Hegh batlhlIj
by Light Lord Cybergate
Summary: The alliance with the Klingon Empire has collapsed and the Borg are about to invade. The Federation is losing badly...and Section 31 is unhappy. Their response: To create the ultimate warrior. This is the story of that warrior.
1. Hegh batlhlIj-A weapon is born!

**AN:**

Hello everybody, It's LLC with a new story!

Yes I know!... I bet it's not what a lot of you want to hear...but, it's time to take a break from my other stories and to try a bit of science fiction instead.

This time I have decided to try something different and write a Star Trek Online story. Also...this time I will be writing shorter chapters as I just don't have the time anymore to write the huge 10000+ chapters I usually do. Expect 3000 to 6000 word chapters instead of the usual 10000 to 15000 chapters. Maybe this way I'll actually post a few chapters without you having to wait ages for a new one.

Anyway...I hope those of you loyal readers who read this will enjoy my newest creation.

As always, if you like it please feel free to leave a review... or simply read and subscribe it. Your choice.

And now... On with the story:

* * *

 **Story Information and Prologue.**

* * *

 **One Time disclaimer for all Chapters:** Star Trek Online belongs to Cryptic Studios. The Star Trek Universe was created by Gene Roddenberry.

As always, I reserve the right to replace and/or update chapters at any time. All chapter are beta'd by myself. I'm doing this purely for fun and no money is being made from this story. Constructive criticism and suggestions are, as always, appreciated.

Updates will be sporadic at best...so be prepared to wait!

 **Story Name:** Hegh batlhlIj (Klingon for: 'Death with honour')

The alliance with the Klingon Empire has collapsed and the Borg are about to invade. The Federation is losing badly...and Section 31 is unhappy. Their response: To create the ultimate warrior. This is the story of that warrior.

 **Story Type:** A Star Trek Online story. It will primarily follow the plot of the game...but I will also try to be unique.

 **Rated:** T at present, may change if necessary.

 **Pairings:** None at present... However, I do plan to have some romance as well as some point.

 **Time Lines:** Most of the story will take place after the year 2409 (graduation), that's about 30 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis. However, there will also be some time travel to different era's (mostly Kirk's era but I also plan to add some TNG, Voyager, Enterprise, DSN...as well as the unknown future and a few trips into alternate dimensions such as the mirror universe)

 **Warnings:** Standard spoiler alerts apply! ( so you might want to play the game first)

Important: My main character WILL be OP. She has been created and designed by myself and Section 31 to be the 'perfect' captain and ultimate warrior. In short a true fleet killer. The klingons (and other races) will fear...and sometimes they will even run from her, rather than face her in battle!

If you don't like this, then this story is not for you. For those of you who love this sort of thing, please feel free to grab some popcorn and read on.

 **Note:** This story was inspired by a certain captain named Ronald Pinkerton from 117Jorn 's 'Star Trek Frontier URE' series as well as To Boldly Go by Thrans. All three stories are well worth the read if you haven't done so already!

And now...on with the story:

* * *

 **Prologue**

A weapon is born!

* * *

 **Location:** Unknown. A hidden base, somewhere, deep in the beta quadrant.

 **Stardate:** 82571.9

An old man, dressed in the traditional 4 square pipped red uniform of a full Star Fleet admiral, sighed unhappily to himself as he read another report, for what seemed like the umpteenth time in the past hour.

This old man's name... was Desmond Duke.

For anybody who did not know him, you might be interested to know that Admiral Duke just happened to be one of Section 31's highest ranking members and its main contact to Star Fleet Academy. As such, if you wanted information about the Academy and the recruits inside, he would be the man to go to.

Currently Duke was in his office catching up on every leader's greatest nightmare, the undefeatable bane, known simply as... Datapad work.

No matter the year, or the technology used, whether is was named parchment work, paperwork or datapad work, it would always continue to haunt the lives of many great men and women.

As fate would have it, at that moment Duke was not in a good mood.

Once again the Federation...his Federation. The same federation he had sworn to protect at all costs...with his own life if necessary - even if it was just from the shadows - had lost yet another ship to the Klingons.

Depressingly, it was always the same news lately.

Another defeat!

Another retreat!

Another Lost crew!

Out numbered...outgunned...humiliated by the Federations former ally, recently turned enemy. Once again... a few of the federation's finest, who would not be coming back home.

Oh, he was really getting sick of it!

"When will they ever learn," he grumbled to himself.

"When would they ever learn that diplomacy only works when the enemy is actually willing to play by your rules," he moaned dismally to himself.

'The Klingons don't care about our type of diplomacy. They laugh at our 'peaceful' diplomacy. In fact, the only real 'diplomacy', the Klingons understand is the sharp edge of a Bath'leth...or a good photon torpedo up their...dark back sides,' he thought fiercely, before angrily tossing the report away, only to pick up another one a few seconds later and then scowl even more than before as it just turned out to be more of the same.

'It's this pathetic behavior these days that makes me wonder how we ever got this far in the first place,' he snarled in his head as he read about a recent Klingon attack on a Federation Colony, which was half destroyed before any help arrived. At this rate the Federation would soon be defeated in a few short years. Probably even months if they were unlucky.

Oh, how he wished for the good old days of the hero's and brave adventurers. The days when Kirk, Archer and the rest of their ilk were still around. Oh, how he so dearly wished for the days when captains were still allowed to actually fight first and ask questions later. Those were the real pioneers of the galaxy. Not the wimps he had to deal with these days.

Sometimes rushing in with shields up and guns blazing really was the only answer. As it was, he was sure, the only reason why the Federation still existed to this very day, was because of four main reasons:

One... they usually had the most powerful weapons, superior tactics and the most advanced technology in the quadrant. After all, you had to have the best, if you constantly fought and survived against technologically advanced and powerful races...like the Borg...or the Undine. Or at least that was true, up to this point. Sadly, the other races seemed to be catching up.

Two... The enemies of the Federation were either too far away - in the case of the Borg and the Dominion. Or they found it too difficult to reach the Federation - in the case of the Undine, who had to travel from another parallel universe filled with organic fluid rather than vacuum.

Three... they constantly fought among themselves - in the case of the Romulans and the Klingons, making a unified conquest of the Federation extremely difficult at the best of times.

Or four... they had the most incredible luck, to be forewarned about a threat before it could arrive and therefore had enough time to prepare for the enemy. Q for one had helped them immensely when he had transported the USS Enterprise D to the Borg. Probably not what the omnipotent being had intended when he had done that, but...he had.

In a way he was very thankful to Q for that. Had the Enterprise not been transported to the Delta Quadrant to meet with the Federations - not to mention the whole galaxies - main nemesis...well...

Look at it this way:

It took a whole fleet of the Federations best ships to take out just 'one' of the Borgs own ships 30 years ago. Even then the Federation lost 36 ships before the single Borg vessel was finally destroyed. In fact, it was only due to a mere fluke, in the form of a recently liberated x-borg that they even managed to win. A pyrrhic victory at best, if ever there was one. The fact remained, they most likely would have lost had it not been for Picard.

Not good odds to say the very least. Not good odds at all.

Luck may well have been on their on their side so far... but...the question remained. For how long would it last?

Luckily, quite a few technological, scientific and strategic breakthroughs had been made since that disastrous encounter, in a desperate attempt to even the odds, but even now, even with Voyagers help thirty years later, it was still always a great risk, at best, to fight the Borg.

Shaking his head, the admiral snorted softly. It was directly for this very reason, why his organisation had been created in the first place and why he was so willing to work for it.

Section 31!

The Federations only real hope. At least it felt like it, with the way Starfleet was acting at present.

Section 31... the secret intelligence agency. Section 31...the black ops of the Federation...and at times... Section 31... the only reason why the Federation even still existed. At least in his opinion.

Too bad the naive idiots in Star Fleet didn't agree.

To hell with their blasted rules, softhearted regulations and even more idiotic directives. Couldn't they understand that sometimes rules just HAD to be broken, if you wanted to survive?

Well, it sure didn't look like they did.

He had always been of the opinion that the directives should only have been used as guidelines to follow, but not to die for, if you could avoid it.

Was Section 31 really that bad that they had to hide and operate from the shadows, just so that the majority could yet live?

The other empires also had their own secret agencies... such as the Romulan Tal Shiar and the Cardassian Obsidian Order. But unlike Section 31 they weren't forced to hide everything they did.

Hah! Even the Klingons, the so called 'honorable warrior race', had their own secret intelligence agency, though it was usually frowned upon. Too dishonorable for the most of them. Klingons, after all, preferred to get close and personal whenever they could. They wanted to smell your fear and watch as you pissed yourself, right before they struck their Bath'leths into your skull.

If anything, the other intelligence agencies were usually far worse than Section 31 ever was, but you sure didn't hear the Romulans...or the Cardasians crying about it. Did you? NO! If anything they supported them!

It just wasn't fair at times.

All Section 31 ever wanted was to protect and secure the Federations future. So what if they had to bend a few rules, or do a few unsavory things from time to time to make sure the Federation still existed in the years to come. It sure beat the alternative which was defeat...or worse... extinction.

Was that really too much to ask for?

Sighing to himself, the admiral quickly signed a datapad and put it down on the table.

'Oh well,' he thought. At least now there was hope at the end of the tunnel...or was that at the end of the wormhole now? No matter.

Standing up from his desk, he stretched his tired limbs and walked to a near by window. From there, he took a moment to look out at the vastness of space and study a few of the many stars beyond. They seemed so beautiful, it would be a shame if humanity were not around to see them anymore in a few years time.

It was nearly time for his scheduled secret meeting with a few 'like minded' colleagues of his.

If Section 31's newest plan worked, then there was a fair chance that soon their problems might well be at an end. At least he hoped so.

It still felt like as if they were putting all of their hopes into one basket. A basket that was riddled with holes and falling apart at one end. Still, at present, it seemed they had no choice. Not anymore. Not if they wanted the Federation to survive to the next decade.

Slowly, he walked to a near by replicator.

"Computer!"

*Beep*

"Tea... Jasmine...hot...with extra sugar...oh, and add a generous touch of gin," he ordered. 'I think I'm going to need it,' he thought dismally.

Patiently, waiting for the machine to do it's job, he took the freshly replicated drink and walked back to his seat.

Sitting back down in his seat he quietly supped his tea and tried to relax as best as he could while he waited for the last few minutes of freedom to tick away.

All too soon the chime of the door bell was heard.

*Chirp*

"Come!" he called out and waited patiently as four other people entered the room.

Slowly he studied the new arrivals.

One, a commander, if the three full coloured black pips on his collar were to be believed, was one of Section 31's top field agents and their main contact - besides himself - to Star Fleet. Or rather, Star Fleet Academy to be exact.

The second person to come in was dressed in the usual civilian outfit people tended to wear these days. However, what really made this 'civilian' special was, that he was not actually a civilian at all, but in fact a Star Fleet captain. Not just any captain, but actually a time traveler from 40 years in the future. He was also the main reason why they were even here in the first place. In his time, the Federation...and the other races had all fallen to a greater race. It was for this reason why he had chosen to travel back in time. To warn them of what was to come.

The next to enter was a politician, one who was cleverly placed in the higher echelons of the Federation ruling council and someone who even had the Federation's presidents trust. He was dressed in a formal suit instead of the common civilian outfit most people chose to wear.

Finally, the last person, arguably, the most important of the three, was a scientist. Dressed in nearly the same clothes as the captain, just in a different colour, he was the head of Section 31's top secret genetics and augments department. It was this man who, in a few short minutes, would be deciding the future of the Federation.

At least he hoped so.

Together these four individuals and admiral made up some of the most powerful and influential people of Section 31, answering only to the director who had declined to come that day.

Briefly standing up, Desmond shook all of their hands.

"Welcome! Darius... please, take a seat. Would you like a drink? Cyrus, what about you? Something to eat perhaps? You perhaps Ajax?" he asked, motioning invitingly towards the replicator.

Several minutes and two freshly replicated drinks later, all five occupants of the room took a seat and were finally ready to start the meeting.

"Now...before we begin...," the admiral said and held up his hand up to stall the others from speaking.

"Computer!"

*Beep!*

"Activate all visual and audio dampening fields, deactivate all recording devices and lock all doors, authorization, Duke - Sierra - 31."

(((Acknowledged! visual and audio dampening fields engaged. No recording devices found)))

"Good...now we can begin."

"What is the current status of our enemies? Any sight of the Borg threat you told us about?" he asked, looking towards the captain from the future, though he directed the question towards everybody in the room.

The captain shook his head.

"No...no sign of them. But that's to be expected. We didn't see them last time either until they were already right on top of us and by the time we were able to respond Vega and the surrounding colonies had already been assimilated. From there it was only a short warp to Qo'noS. The Klingons, for all their bravery and honour didn't last long, and by the time they were finally willing to swallow their pride and allow us to help them, the Borg had more than enough drones in place to easily assimilate Earth. Not that I'm actually expecting them to be here yet. There should be no reason why they would suddenly be here 4 years early this time round," he answered.

"What about the Romulans," the Commander asked, dismayed at the perceived hopelessness of the situation. If the Klingons had no chance against the Borg, than what hope did they have?

"Hah!, The Romulans! Don't make me laugh!" They... they just sat back and let the Borg conquer us! They claimed they had enough problems of their own and could not spare any forces to help. I bet they cheered when the Borg assimilated Vulcan. Bloody green pointy-eared bastards,"the captain answered bitterly."

"I'm not talking about the Star Empire. I'd be very surprised if 'they' ever helped us...or anyone for that matter. No, I'm talking about our allies, the Romulan Republic," the Commander amended.

"The Republic? Well, I guess they did help, at first and... sure, they sent a few ships to aid us in our struggle. At least at first. However, they where of no real use to us to actually make a trace of a difference. Not that I blame them, mind you... especially not after the Borg assimilated New Romulus a mere two weeks after they first tried to help. In a way they were some of our most loyal ally's, choosing to join what remained of our fleets after the fall of earth...right to the bitter end.

"What about the other races... the Cardasians?...hell, even the dominion? Surely someone must have helped before it was too late?" the Admiral asked grimly.

"The Cardasians? They actually packed up and abandoned their planets rather than choosing to fight! The last we saw of them was a huge flotilla fleeing out into the unknown far reaches of the galaxy. Come to think of it, of all the races, they were probably the smartest. For all I know they could actually have made it to safety... no matter how brief that safety might have been," the captain answered with a trace of humor in his voice.

"And the Dominion?," the admiral asked, facepalming his face.

"As soon as 'they' realised what was happening, they decided to cut their losses and somehow forced the wormhole to collapse and go super nova rather than fight. Still have no idea how they actually managed that but...as you can well imagine, that was when we lost contact with DS9 and all of our forces in the Bajoran sectors."

"Oh no! As if the Borg are not enough, the Dominion some how found a way to turn the wormhole into a Weapon of Galactic Destruction...," the commander bemoaned dismally. The more he listened to the captain, the more depressed he became.

"Enough!" the scientist in the room suddenly said. He had chosen to stay quiet until that moment, but no more.

"Instead of moaning and bitching about stories of how we might be defeated in the future...how about we instead talk about how we will actually avoid such a fate. I for one have no intention of allowing those mechanic monstrosities to assimilate myself any time soon. Not if I can help it.

"Agreed!" the other four said simultaneously.

"About that, I still think we should just tell Star Fleet about this. Surely they would have enough time to prepare if they knew about what was coming. After all, they have done it before. So why not again," the time travelling captain suggested.

"No, we already agreed that it would not work. The last time was pure luck. Besides, while I'm sure a good few would no doubt be willing to break the Federations precious rules and do whatever must be done to survive, the majority will still stall and stop those who might. I'm afraid that there are just way too many rules, idiotic regulations and self-righteous fools around for any plan to work in time. Not to mention all the red tape and corrupt bureaucrats who would have to willingly give up their power, fortunes and cushy lifestyles for us to actually succeed. By the time they decide to help it will already be too late. There are just too many thing which could go wrong," the Commander stated. A declaration which caused the other participants of the meeting to frown.

"Then how about we just take over... a few well placed assassinations...a few people put into the right positions...with your help admiral I'm sure it could be done," the politician asked, already thinking about a few corrupt officials and loyal captains he could convince to help, with the right incentives and promotions of course.

"I agree, I'm sure Agent Drake for one would be able to...persuade a few key people to look the other way from time to time if it becomes necessary," the Commander agreed.

"No...again too risky... we are not strong enough or secure enough to do that. Trust me...I'd know. Maybe if we were the Tal Shiar and the Federation were the Star Empire, then it might work... but if 'we' tried it in our current state, then it would only cause a civil war...which would only weaken us even more. And that is something we can not afford if we want any chance of success," Desmond answered, ignoring the grumbles and complaints the others were giving him.

"No...for there to be any success at all, as much as I hate to admit it... we will have to do this their way for once. And this includes playing by their rules...at least for 90% of the time," he added a few seconds later.

"So...I take it this means Project Sparta is a go?" the Scientist asked, gleefully.

"I don't like this any more than you..er...I mean the most of us do" he said looking at the scientist. "It's like putting all of our hopes into one basket. However, it does seem like our only option right now," the Captain answered with a frown.

"Unfortunately, like you said, it's the best we have...and it's why we have to make 100% sure...it...that is, 'Project Sparta' doesn't fail," the admiral remarked sternly.

"Yes... well... since we are on the topic of Project Sparta...how is our...'Spartan' doing anyway?" the politician asked.

"Are we really ready to unleash 'it'...Him?...or was it a Her yet?" the commander asked. He was very interested in Section 31 newest project. Very interested indeed. From what he had heard the Spartan would be a true super warrior. The ultimate warrior to be exact.

"Her!... and she is in the finishing stages," the Scientist answered, smugly.

"As you well know we took the best samples from multiple species and ...'assimilated' them into her body, the scientist said, choosing to use Borg terminology to explain his newest creation.

"While the loss of certain body strength due to her gender is... unfortunate, I can happily report that the rest of the project was otherwise a total success. Ocampa females simply tend to be... more powerful telepathically than their male counterparts, hence why I had her turned into a female. As it is, I thought the sacrifice to be well within acceptable parameters...," he added a second later a near manic grin appearing on his face.

"Don't worry though, she is still 100% human. Or at least 99%. As close to human as she can be with all the extra alien DNA in her. At the very least she will look like a human. As it is, I am happy to announce that Project Sparta officially has the resilience of a Klingon, the strength of a Vulcan, the telepathic ability of an Ocampa...not to mention...some limited shape shifting ability from our all so 'helpful' captive Founder... and even the memories, as limited as they may be of a 10000 year old Trill symbiont."

"Yes...I heard about that. How did that work out again?," the admiral asked, interrupting the scientist before his ego could inflate even further. Though he had to admit, it was impressive.

*Sigh* "I regret to say, it could have been better...but then again, it could also have been a lot worse too. Let me remind you that it WAS experimental...and that there never was any actual guarantee that it would have worked. Same with the founder DNA for that matter. I'm still amazed that it even worked as much as it did in the first place... even if only for a few minutes in the case of the symbiont. As it is, it probably wouldn't have worked at all if she had been fully human and did not have at least some Trill DNA in her," the scientist responded, his good mood ruined by the admirals remark.

"Unfortunately there were a few...let's call them compatibility complications. Complications which resulted in the unfortunate loss of the symbiont. Regrettable...but...expected... and well within acceptable parameters, as I might already have mentioned before," the scientist added.

"Yes...about that...luckily the Trill are still blaming the Cardasians for the kidnapping. It cost us a few of our best agents to make it happen and plant the false evidence. Agents who had to surgically alter themselves to look like the reptiles and then had vaporize themselves just so they would not be captured. Make sure the Trill will never find out who actually kidnapped one of their most respected elders." the admiral added, sternly. He really could do without the mess and the massive migraine which would be created if 'that' ever came out.

"Yes well... as I was saying. While we did not manage to get much of it's knowledge and experiences as I would have liked, seeing as it chose to die rather than let us have all of it's knowledge. I have been assured that, due to the brief connection, no matter how brief it may have been, that subject Sparta's ability to learn will be greatly improved and that she might even get a few flashbacks from time to time from the symbiont's previous 60 or so hosts. If we help along a bit...maybe with some mental stimulation exercises, then I'm sure we can even...unlock' quite a few other 'experiences'. Experiences which will no doubt 'help her', and thereby us in the future."

"Considering that quite a few of the symbionts past hosts were former star fleet officers...and that one of its Trill hosts even made it all the way up to the rank of fleet admiral of the Trill Space Forces, this should prove to be quite a boon. Not to forget that one of the hosts was once a crew member which had served unboard the original USS Enterprise, before Kirk became captain...and for it's full 5 year journey with the man as well. I'm sure, whatever knowledge and experiences we did manage to...acquire from the brief union... will be quite beneficial," the scientist said, his smile returning in full force.

The others agreed wholeheartedly.

"Any other complications?" the admiral asked.

"Not really...not unless you include her limited founder ability to only change into other humanoids instead of objects as well and a sudden increased liking for battle... probably from the klingon side. Not to mention an upgraded sense of logic...from her vulcan side...a great tendency to find different solutions and not play solely by the rule book... all served together with a healthy dash of paranoia when dealing with certain untrustworthy races... but again all well in acceptable parameters," the scientist answered. He obviously did not find this information to be an issue.

"Not necessarily a bad thing...as long as she can tone it down a bit for the academy," the Commander said in agreement.

"Indeed!" the others agreed in unison.

"Yes...the academy...are we absolutely certain we can keep her involvement with us a secret?" the politician asked a few seconds later.

"I'm certain. I will personally make sure that all traces of her leading to us will be removed from all records. Even our own. The only people who will know about her involvement to us at all will be ourselves, agent Drake and the director. Plus, she will of course be given the full agent training...including the full interrogation cycle resistance training to prepare her for any...mishaps. Rest assured, SF Intelligence will never find out about her connection to us, in the unlikely event that she somehow ere to mess up," the commander answered.

"Hmm... this means I'll have to...eliminate the others in my department won't I," the scientist said, more to himself that to the others.

"That...unfortunate matter we will leave up to you. You know them best after all," the commander answered. "Just make sure 'it' will never leaves the labs," he added, getting a brief nod from the scientist.

"Good...all in all it seems we are ready and while I'm not very happy with the fact that we have to go the long way. That we actually have to send her into the academy and not just give...'her' a ship. I can accept it. Especially considering that we will have to keep an eye on her anyway. Just in case something were to somehow go wrong. I guess it would be foolish to insert her as an officer, especially as a captain, until we are sure that were are no side effects," the admiral said, agreeing with their plan.

"Are we certain she won't go...'native' on us and that she will continue to take orders from us for certain...projects?" the Commander asked, suddenly.

"Oh, I'm sure. I can personally reassure you when I say that she will be very loyal to our cause, or indeed Section 31's cause. Besides of what ever they will teach her at the academy...and whatever morals she may inadvertently pick up along the way, we will never have anything to fear from her. Finally, if all else fails there is always myself. She does, after all, think of me as her father, seeing as I practically raised her, all the way from her test tube. Let's just say I...may also have included a bit of...em...subtle conditioning as well that will... make her more open to doing the 'right' thing from time to time when I use certain code phrases. So yes...believe me when I say that within reason, as long as we use the right words, she is not influenced by other mind techniques and as long as we don't do anything...'stupid' to cause her to distrust us...she will help us and stay loyal to our cause," the scientist answered, a certain glint in his eyes. A glint which made the others a bit nervous. Choosing to ignore it though they soon put it out of their minds.

"Oh well, in that case I guess it will have to do..." the admiral said after a while, still feeling a bit uneasy at what he had just seen and heard.

"Agreed!" the others answered, nodding in agreement.

"One last thing. Once she is placed into the academy I am ordering a no contact rule. Baring a few covert tests from time to time and her own secure personal contact for mission updates and emergencies, I want us to have no contact with her what so ever. The less contact she has with us while at the academy, the better," the admiral ordered.

The others soon agreed. It was, after all, for the best.

"Agreed!" they all said in unison.

"And with that, I think I have heard enough," the politician declared as he started to stand up.

"I am very pleased with the progress you are making... and I'm sure our financial backers will also be pleased too as long as we make this work. For now I'll put in a good word and keep the more aggressive ones of your backs,' The politician said.

"Admiral...make sure Sandra is transferred on time and that there are no complications," he ordered a second later.

"Sandra?" the Captain asked.

"Yes, Sandra Jadzia Ezri de'Sol ... Sandra, meaning 'protector of humanity,'... Jadzia and Ezri, after two of the late symbiont's most recent hosts...and Sol...well...because that's where she was created," the scientist explained.

"I see," the Captain answered, shocked by the hidden true meaning behind what he had just heard and not for the first time he hoped he had done the right thing by going to Section 31 first...rather than to Star Fleet like he had been ordered to do.

"Now!... On to another matter... I hear the Romulans have been complaining about the Alini sector incident again. Seems like they weren't too happy with the loss of their...'secret' base," the politician said, turning the others attention to another matter. He received a few laughs at that comment.

"What's been done to solve this issue..."

For better or worse, the captains actions had changed the future and with it the fate of the galaxy.

While he was sure his choice could hardly result in a worse future than the one he had come from. After all, surely anything would be better than that nightmare reality. Whether this new future would be a good one... remained to be seen.

What was done, was done. A warrior had been born...and with her lay the hopes of a whole galaxy.

The rest...only time would tell.

Indeed...

Only time...would tell!


	2. Hegh batlhlIj-The Kobayashi Maru-Part 1

**Previously on Hegh batlhlIj:**

* * *

For better or worse, the captains actions had changed the future and with it the fate of the galaxy.

While he was sure his choice could hardly result in a worse future than the one he had come from. After all, surely anything would be better that that. Whether this new future would be a good one... remained to be seen.

What was done, was done. A warrior had been born...and with her lay the hopes of a whole galaxy.

The rest...only time would tell.

* * *

 **And now the continuation:**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

The Kobayashi Maru - Part 1

* * *

 **Location:** Star Fleet Academy, San Francisco, Earth

* * *

"Senior Cadet Sandra Sol. Personal Log, Stardate 86456.5."

"It's time. The moment I have been preparing for, for the past few years, has finally arrived."

"No! It's not graduation day. Not yet at least. I'm afraid I still have a few more happy months at good old Star Fleet Academy before that happy day arrives. No, dear log, today is the day of the Kobayyashi Maru."

"Yes, that's right! The Kobayyashi Maru."

"In just a few short hours I'm going to take command of a Miranda class starship and head out to the Klingon neutral zone to attempt the infamous no win mission known lovingly...or rather UN-lovingly... as the Kobayashi Maru. The bane of all Star Fleet Cadets."

"Should be fun...right?... maybe?"

(The sound of chuckling could be heard.)

"Yeah Right! As if that is actually possible"

"I know you're probably asking yourself if that's even possible. After all, how can you possibly enjoy a mission which you're guaranteed to fail. After all, no one has fun when your crew mates are screaming in pain and dying all around you while your ship explodes."

"Yes, yes I know it will only be a simulation... something which I'm very thankful for, as I'd hate to have this happen to me for real. Though, if the Klingon situation doesn't improve, then it may very well come to that soon enough. Hopefully with less explosions... unless it's the Klingons who do the exploding of course."

"Scary thought that...but..." She pauses for a second before continuing. "I guess that's what we sign up for when we join Star Fleet. I even more than the others if I think about it."

"As it is, I realise that I will most likely fail today. Just like everybody else has so far in history. Maybe not the right attitude to have before going into the simulation, I know, but it is after all supposed to teach us that not all battles can be won. Well... unless you pull a Kirk and cheat, that is. I have to wonder though, is it really winning if you cheat? After all, anybody can win if you rewrite the code and make the klingons respect and fear you enough that they would rather run away than fight you."

"Yeah right... as if a normal Klingon would ever do that," she added with a small laugh.

"NO! I want to be the first person in history to actually win it. I want to be the first person to prove that it _can_ be done," she said, stressing the can as she said it.

"I have been spending the past few months studying up on ship battle strategies, tactics and on all kinds of ships which I may encounter and of course on the Klingons themselves. So I think I'm ready. Still, one can never be ready enough, especially not when going into battle.

She sighs wearily before continuing once more.

"Even if I don't succeed. Even if I fail like all the others before me, then maybe I will at least be lucky enough to impress the old man enough, that I might get a better posting on a better ship once I finish here. A girl can always hope...right?"

"Anyway... time to do this... there goes the early warning chime for the next class. Wish me luck!"

"Computer save and close log."

(((Log saved))

Taking just enough time to check that everything really had been saved and stored in the right area she stretched out her arm to turn off her personal computer console. That done, Sandra Sol got up from her chair and started to head for the door.

"Well, time to go I guess," she said to herself as she pressed the door tab of her room to open the door.

Waiting just long enough for it to slide open, she stepped out and gave one last glance around her room.

The next time she returned, it would either be as the Girl-Who-Won, the victor of the Kobayyashi Maru and the star of the academy... or just another recent victim of the infamous no win scenario.

No pressure!

No...really...no pressure.

It wasn't like she could really die and it was, after all, expected that she would lose. Everybody does. Nobody...and I do mean nobody won. Not unless you cheated. But to Sandra that just didn't count. It just didn't feel right.

No! If she did do this, she swore to herself, then she would do it without cheating. The Klingon side of her blood would demand no less from her... and it was also the reason why she had been created and why she was here.

Yes, Sandra knew who she was and more importantly 'what' she was. She was the Federations last hope. The 'Spartan' as her 'dad' Cyrus had explained it to her. In her very DNA lay the very best the whole galaxy had to offer. And while it was indeed a lot to live up to. If she couldn't do it...then who could?

In a way it WAS expected from her. Though, of course, no one would ever say that to her.

This would be just the type of test she needed to hopefully prove to everybody at section 31 that their trust was not misplaced.

She knew very well that the Federation...and the rest of the galaxy needed her. She knew very well that the fate of the whole galaxy rested on her small shoulders. Only metaphorically, thankfully... but...

She would not let it down.

She could not afford to.

This she swore.

* * *

 _ **A few minutes later, a meeting room near holodecks 1 to 8.**_

"Welcome cadets...to the Kobayyashi Maru simulation!" came the voice of the instructor as he faced the eager cadets in front of him. Well...most of them anyway. It would have been foolish to expect all of them to be eager to take the Kobayyashi Maru.

"My name is lieutenant Barcley... no relation to the rear admiral Barcley who served on the Enterprise D," he added before anyone could raise the question.

"In a few short minutes...or hours for some of you, you will be taking the bane of all Star Fleet Cadets known better by it's other names such as the 'Impossible Mission', 'The no win scenario' or even "The-mission-where-you-learn-how-to-retreat-and-let-the-civilians-die... your pick." Hearing this a few of the cadets laughed, though most tired to keep blank expressions on their faces.

"Yes, yes, I hear you laughing now, but I can guarantee you won't be laughing for long once you're in the big seat and your comrades are injured and dying all around you," Barcley continued sternly.

That shut the laughing cadets up instantly.

Seeing he had all of the cadets attention again Barcley continued to speak:

"The simulation...and be very thankful that it is in fact only a simulation, will take place in the Klingon Neutral Zone. An area which you have been tasked to patrol for the past few months. You're the captain of the ship and it will be up to you to decide what to do during the simulation. Be advised, any Starfleet ship entering the zone may very well cause an interstellar incident. It will be up to you to decide whether you risk war with the Klingons and attempt to recover the crew of the ship... or to leave it to it's fate," he said, somewhat morbidly.

"Your class mates will be there along side you to assist you as part of the simulation. Please keep in mind however, those who have already taken their tests are forbidden to give any hints or to talk about the test to those who have not yet already attempted their official test. The official test is the one were you are the captain of the ship."

"The moment the simulation starts you will be on your own. The nearest friendly ship will be far away. Too far to help. You will have to rely on yourself and your crewmates and you will receive no help what so ever from any of the instructors present today... so if you have any questions now is the time to ask them."

"Any questions?"

Silence.

"No? Ok!... In that case I will now call out your assignment times and positions for the simulations."

"Floyd, David!"

"Yes Sir?"

"Your official test as captain will be at 1600 hours in holodeck 1... I also have you slotted in for a test as a crew member at 1800 hours in holodeck 6. In this test you're going to be a junior tactical officer.

"Stone, Jane!"

"Yes Sir!"

"Your official test will also be at 1600 hours in holodeck 2... You are also slotted in for a test at 1900 hours as a senior science officer in holodeck 8.

"Flores, Elisa!"

"Sir!"

"Your official test will be in holodeck 3, 1600 hours. You also have a second test as the chief tactical officer in Holodeck 5 at 2000 hours.

The list went on. Sandra listened diligently until finally...

"Sol, Sandra!"

Sandra immediately stood straighter and replied with a strong.

"Yes Sir!"

"Your official test is in holodeck 5 at 2000 hours... You are also slotted in for tests as the Chief Tactical officer at 1900 hours in holodeck 2, as Chief Science officer tomorrow at 2400 hours in holodeck 6, as Chief Engineer tomorrow at 1300 hours in holodeck 8 and also as the Chief Con Officer tomorrow at 1800 hours in holodeck 3. Your request for extra slot times has been accepted, as has your other request. Since it's indeed true that a captain would be able to decide who to have on their bridge crew, the admiralty have decided to allow you, and only you, to choose your bridge officers for the mission. Please be advised that this is not favoritism. Because you were the only one to make this request, it is therefore also only fair that you will also be the only one who will be allowed to profit from this," He said with a smile.

Sandra also smiled, doing her best to ignore the grumbles and mutters from the other cadets around her. It was their loss that they had not thought of doing so as well. Silently she continued to listen to the lieutenant.

She now had a few hours before it was time to take her test. Perfect! Plenty of time for some last minute preparation.

* * *

 _ **A few hours and plenty of defeated and demoralized cadets later, holodeck 5,**_

The time for her test and finally arrived. In a few short minutes the proctor of the exam would start the test.

Sandra was currently in her chair on board the Miranda class star ship, the USS Anaconda. True...she had to remind herself that it was only a simulation... but damn did it feel good to finally sit in the big chair.

Was she nervous?

No!...

(Nervous laugh)

Well...Ok!... Maybe a bit. Everybody was on the first time they got to sit in the big chair. It was only natural.

Was she ready though? Would she be able to succeed where so many others had failed?

That was the real question and it was one which she wanted to have an answer to soon.

Indeed, the next few hours would decide just that. Soon she would know if she really had what it took to be the very best. Or if she was just one of the rest.

Looking around the bridge she allowed herself a moment to study the crew...her crew, the crew she had hand picked out herself to join her on the mission, as they prepared themselves around her.

First up... Elise Florres, a read headed human. Today she would be taking the position of her Chief Tactical officer. Of all the available cadets Sandra could have picked from her class and year, she had decided that Elise Florres would be the best cadet for the position. Her scores in the tactical section were nearly as good as her own. Considering that she had chosen tactical as her main path and that she had also achieved former training while she was still at section 31, that was saying something. As it was, Sandra was sure that, had she not had her advanced reflexes, advanced strength, other abilities, not to forget her former training, Elise would have been the best in the tactical class, not her. As such Florres had her complete respect and fully deserved her rightful place on the bridge crew.

Next up was a cadet named Anne Potter. Anne was also a human and for the mission Sandra has decided to make her the ships Chief Con Officer. Sandra had taken a lot of time in the past few years getting to know the normally quiet girl. Few knew that a lot of her free time had been spent, first helping her, then assisting her to become the best conn officer Star Fleet had ever seen.

It would not be too arrogant for her to say that she had succeeded in that task. With high honors!

True, she still had a long way to go before she was ready officially achieve that 'big' title, but Sandra was sure, if she continued to become better, she would soon be able to fly a ship backwards through asteroid fields and fly loops around any Klingon ship they might encounter. At least that was the plan. If Anne ever got a place on the same ship as herself then she swore she would do everything she could to help make it a reality.

Next was a vulcan female whose name was Tvrell Sarek _._ Like all vulcans her main strength lay in her ability to remain calm and logical at all times. Tvrell however took this to the next level.

True, at first she was just like any other vulcan who took the Starfleet path, logical, hard to anger, the usual vulcan mentallity, but just like Anne, Sandra had helped her become better than she otherwise could have been. At first she just wanted to become a science officer, but Sandra had managed to convince her to try for the communications post as well. That was three years ago. Now Tvrell could understand and speak twelve different languages, fluently, was currently in the process of learning two more... and as if that wasn't enough, was constantly the best in the class in both communications and science. Sandra herself usually came second and third respectively in both of those classes, once again thanks mainly to her former knowledge due to her late symbiont's memories. Tvrell however did this without such help and Sandra was sure that once the finals came, she would be well able to ace them.

Forth and final member of her hand picked crew mates for the test was a cadet named Zarva of house Keral. Zarva Keral was a Bolien female who's main area of expertise was in the engineering side of Star Fleet.

While Zarva would not usually be posted on the bridge but in main engineering, she did have a chair and console on the bridge which she could use for certain missions. This would be one of those mission. Zarva was the absolute best in the academy, a complete genius, when it came to taking care of and fixing things. That girl seriously knew her stuff! Far better than Sandra herself could ever hope to be. Even with her training at Section 31 she was no where close to her level. She was just that good. Indeed, in the past few years Sandra had heard rumors of a few captains already making plans and trading favours just to have her on their ships, just as soon as she finished her official graduation training cruise.

Ask her to translate a text, fly a ship, or indeed take care of a plant and she would fail miserably. Ask her however to take a warp core apart and then make it dance, chances are that she would not only be able to do it, but make it learn a jive as well. For the Kobayyashi Maru, there was no better person for the position of chief Engineer.

These four female team mates made up the core of her command staff... they were her most trusted friends...and together, with her as the groups fifth member and leader, they were collectively known in the academy as: 'The Five Vixens of class 2409'.

Of course there were also other officers on the bridge, but Sandra just didn't know the others cadets well enough to make a well enough informed decision about them. Because of this she had decided to allow the proctor of the exam to choose the remaining bridge offices for her.

Still, even so, she was fairly sure she now had the best possible crew for the mission...and therefore also the best chance to finally be the first to beat the infamous 'impossible Kobayyashi Maru'.

The rest she would simply have to deal with during the test.

* * *

The last few seconds before the test...her test, slowly ticked by. Everybody was ready...or as ready as they were going to be.

So why did she suddenly have the feeling that she had forgotten something?

Hmm, no matter. If she had indeed forgotten something, then it was too late to change or do anything about it now anyway. She would simply have to adapt.

'No need crying over spilled milk...the replicator will take care of that anyway,' she thought, smiling softly at her own brand of humor.

Suddenly the voice of the computer rang out across the holodeck.

(((Warning! The simulation will commence in 2 minutes!)))

Almost immediately she could feel the tension in the room rising sharply as her fellow cadets tensed up all around her and took their assigned seats around the room.

For a brief second Sandra had to physically and mentally stop herself from using her Ocampa and Betazoid telepathic abilities to take a sneak peak into her team mates minds. Those that had already taken the test a few hours prior. That would have been cheating and Sandra did not want to cheat. Not in this! If she was going to win, then she would do it fairly, without cheating... or not at all.

She would not become a Kirk! She wanted to be better than Kirk!

(((Warning! The simulation will commence in 1 minute!)))

For a few seconds she took a calming breath and closed her eyes. The waiting was almost worse than the actual test itself.

Mentally she calmed and as best as she could, she forced the sudden anxiety to the back of her mind. Breathing in and out slowly she relaxed, then feeling ready, she reopened her eyes once more. It was times like these that she just loved her Vulcan sides ability to instantly calm her mind and ignore the fear she was currently feeling.

(((Warning! The simulation will commence in 30 seconds! There will be no further warnings!)))

Slowly taking one last look around the room she gave everybody a few last minute encouraging smiles, even to the examiner who she knew had taken the position of her first officer for the exam. Then straightening her back, she focused her eyes on the main screen of her bridge.

'Time to show the galaxy how it's done,' she thought fiercely. She could already feel her Klingon side roaring inside her roaring as it eagerly anticipated the upcoming battle and the honour it would hopefully achieve.

Then everything flickered and the room was suddenly filled with noise.

The test had officially begun!


	3. Hegh batlhlIj-The Kobayashi Maru-Part 2

**Previously on Hegh batlhIj:**

* * *

Slowly taking one last look around the room she gave everybody a few last minute encouraging smiles, even to the examiner who she knew had taken the position of first officer for the exam. Then straightening her back, she focused on the main screen of her bridge.

'Time to show the galaxy how it's done,' she thought fiercely. She could already feel her Klingon side roaring inside her as it eagerly anticipated the upcoming battle and the honour it would hopefully achieve.

Then everything flickered and the room was suddenly filled with noise.

The test had officially begun!

* * *

 **And now the continuation:**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

The Kobayashi Maru - Part 2

* * *

 **Stardate:** 86457.0

 **Location:** Holodeck 5, Star Fleet Academy, San Francisco, Earth

* * *

The Kobayyashi Maru had officially begun.

A few minutes after the simulation officially started the Anaconda suddenly received the infamous priority distress call from the civilian freighter Kobayyashi maru.

It started just like it always did.

"Captain! we are receiving a distress call from a civilian freighter. It's the Kobayyashi Maru," one of the photonic officers suddenly announced.

That was the moment Sandra had been waiting for. Immediately taking control of the situation she gave her first order of the mission.

"On screen!"

"Can't do that sir, audio only," came the response.

"Alright then, let's hear it," Sandra replied.

 _((( **Static, difficult to understand:** "Can anyone hear us. This is the Kobayyashi Maru. We are currently in the Klingon Neutral Zone and our ship has struck a gravitic mine. We are rapidly losing power. Hull integrity is at 50%, Warp core is offline as are the impulse engines. Life support is almost gone. Please help us!...Can anyone hear...))))_

"Turn it off!"

Pausing for a second Sandra asked her first question: "Are there any other ships in the area?" she asked, already knowing the answer but asking anyway if only to keep up appearances and to keep it by the book. At least for now.

"Negative Sir! We are the only ship for several light years," T'vrell answered in her usual calm voice, giving her the expected response.

Oh well, that was as expected. Barcley did say they would be on their own. Still...facts could always change during a mission as no plan survives the first few moments, so it was always worth checking, just in case.

"That means it's up to us to help them," Sandra said.

Hearing this the proctor, a Vulcan - who had taken the place of the first officer for the test - turned to face her.

"Captain, let me remind you that crossing into the neutral zone at this time would be a direct violation of the Klingon-Federation treaty and could result in a war."

"Noted!" Sandra responded, grimly. "We are still going to help them though. No way am I just going to leave a civilian freighter to the hands of the Klingons. Not if there is still a way to help them. Red Alert! Shields up!" she ordered.

Quickly turning to face T'vrell, she commenced her plan.

It had taken her a while to consider just what she would do as she sat awake during the past few nights, thinking up different plans and strategies, but in the end she had decided it would be the right way to go. First step...minimize potential casualties. Preferably without wasting too much time.

"T'vrell, how far away are we from the nearest inhabited or inhabitable planet...is there one on the way to the Kobay?" she asked.

Raising her right eyebrow slightly, but not showing any other reaction to her current captains request, T'vrell performed a quick scan and responded. "Yes Captain, there is a small moon sized glaciated planet in the system, uninhabited yet still inhabitable, along a direct path to the Kobayyashi maru, Sir! We should be able to arrive there in about..." she paused, did a few quick mental calculations and then finished with; "3.256 minutes at maximum warp."

"Excellent, better than I could have hoped for. Anne, set a direct course towards the planet. Maximum warp!" Sandra ordered.

"Aye Sir!' came Anne's response and a second later the ship went into warp.

Happy that her orders were being performed Sandra activated her chair's console and turned on the ship wide con. While she knew it was only a simulation and therefore only the bridge crew had real people, she still had to treat the rest of the ship as if it too were real.

"Attention all decks! This is the captain. We are about to enter into a hostile area with extreme, almost definite chances of encountering hostile forces. This is not a drill. I repeat this is not a drill. In a few short minutes we will be arriving at an uninhabited inhabitable P class planet. I am herewith ordering a ship wide evacuation of all crew members except Main Engineering crew members, all Elite Force crew members and all active bridge officers. Head down to the planet and wait for our return, or failing that, another ship. I repeat, I want all crew except for all Main Engineering crew members, all Elite Force crew members and all active bridge officers to abandon the ship. Elite Force, I want all officers to arm yourselves for extreme combat and head towards main engineering. Include a sword or a Bath'leth if you have one. Once there set up fortifications and prepare to engage hostile Klingon forces. Mine the corridors with traps wherever you can. Activate them on my mark. Defend Main Engineering it at all costs." she called out. Sandra repeated her orders once more before she turned off the con.

The whole bridge crew, except the other members of the vixens, were staring at her. The vixens were used to her strange ways, while the others were clearly confused by her orders. She however simply ignored them, choosing instead to give out her next orders.

"Listen up everybody...the moment we drop out of warp at the planet, all of us will go to Main Engineering at which point I will transfer all ships controls to it. I would have transferred us to a battle bridge, but this ship doesn't have one. As such, I want Main engineering to be transformed into a secondary battle bridge for the duration of the rescue. Once we arrive and the rest of the crew has left the ship I want all power not needed for battle, including all life support and computers from all evacuated areas, and that includes the main bridge, turned off. I then want as many class ten beaming resistant, high intensity force fields set up around Main Engineering as we can manage without visually influencing the ships main power supply. I will allow 1% of the ships total power for this task. I want these force-fields kept up at all times, for as long as possible. Before long they might be all that will keep us away from the klingons...or the icy vaccum of space. No Klingon is going to get into Engineering if I have any say about it. Finally I then want all remaining unused power, if any, transferred to the shields. We will need it! "

"Any questions?" she asked.

"Should we send a message to the Kobayyashi Maru telling them of our arrival?" T'vrell asked, as calmly as ever, taking everything in stride as she always did.

"No...that would mean potentially also alerting the Klingons... as of this moment I want a complete communications black out between us and the rest of the galaxy," she answered.

"Any other questions?...No?...good! then let's do this."

'Yes Captain," was the only reply as everybody quickly got to work.

Having said her part Sandra turned her attention back to the view screen, counting down the seconds before they arrived at the planet, completely ignoring any remaining incredulous stares of the rest of the bridge crew and the intrigued look of her first officer. Of all the crew only the vulcans and the vixens seemed to be as calm as usual.

* * *

 _ **At the same time in the Academy's Test Center.**_

At the same time Sandra was attempting the Kobayyashi Maru test two admirals and three other captains, fully equipped with datapads in their hands, were engrossed in watching a large screen. Carefully studying Sandra, all looked very interested in her current actions.

"Intriguing!" said one of the admirals, a Vulcan, with a thoughtful look on his face. He quickly typed something into his datapad. So far Cadet Sol had shown... a remarkable talent for 'advanced thinking' and a... rather unique form of pre-battle preparation."

"Indeed...a completely unorthodox way of preparing for battle," said another examiner as she too wrote something into her own datapad. She too seemed very interested and even impressed in the young cadets actions.

"Of course, whether it will be the right choice remains to be seen. Already this is very different to the norm of what cadets usually do. Few cadets in the history of Star Fleet have ever thought to transfer control of the ship to another section of the ship while attempting the Kobay. Those who did, always tried to transfer it to a battle bridge, but after finding none they usually discarded the idea. Only a handful have ever left the bridge to go to engineering and as far as I know no cadet has ever told the crew to abandon the ship before the battle. During it, sure. Before it... I believe she's the first," said yet again another examiner.

"What I really find interesting is that... by removing life support from all evacuated areas, she has effectively made all areas but engineering uninhabitable and thereby made it impossible for the Klingons to enter those areas without environmental suits. Not sure why any Klingon would want to enter the ship, but still, an intriguing idea. One which might be useful in the future if we ever have to deal with enemy boarding attempts."

"Secondly, by surrounding Engineering with class 10 beaming resistant force fields, she has effectively made it virtually impossible to beam into engineering while the force fields are up. Finally, by posting all members of the ships Elite Force fast response unit inside Engineering at well defend-able positions, she has also made it very difficult for any Klingons to take over what is now effectively the only active part of the ship. Not to mention the only area which can still control the ship since she has locked the rest of the ship down. By the time the Klingons actually manage to take over engineering - if the ship were to actually last that long at all was another matter entirely - all would be lost anyway," said the forth captain.

"Of course, on the other hand, if engineering were to be destroyed..." the same captain started to add but never finished speaking, leaving the rest unsaid but quite obvious to its meaning.

"On a little side note, it may interest you to know that, of the all of the cadets who did order to leave the bridge, ten of them went on to become fantastic captains at young ages," said the third captain.

"What happened to the others?" asked another.

"They died in battle before they could...otherwise I'm sure they too would have made it," came the answer.

"Ah!...I see...so, in other words all of them, those to survive, made it to captain," came an awkward response.

A nod was his answer. "Isn't that right...Admiral" he asked looking across the table at one of the two admirals in the room. Incidentally the admiral just happened to be one of those few surviving cadets.

"Quite right...but that's a story for another time... for now let's continue to watch and see what she does next," the admiral used that moment to say, effectively turning every-bodies attention back to the large screen in front of them.

* * *

 _ **Back on the simulated command center of the USS Anaconda**_

It didn't take long for the ship to arrive at the icy planet. Just as T'vrell had said, in directly 3.256 minutes on the dot, right after first going into warp with it's mark 5 warp drive, the ship once again dropped out of warp in the planet's orbit.

Checking the time on his console the Vulcan Proctor gave T'vrell an impressed nod. It wasn't possible to be much more accurate than that.

'You just got to love the Vulcan ability to be as precise as possible. Especially this vixens ability,' thought Sandra as she watched her crew get up and walk to the simulated turbo-lifts which would now quickly take them straight down to Main Engineering. 'Hmm...might be a good idea to turn these off, or at least lock them down as well. Just in case,' she thought to herself. Always better to be safe than sorry.

'But first things first.'

"Computer..."

*Beep*

"On my mark, rescind and transfer all bridge and ship controls to Main Engineering. Lock down the Bridge and accept no further orders from this location, authorization, SOL, Romeo-November-Charlie-5-7-4-1-2-9-Fox!-Foxtrot-Fox!"

That said, she stepped out of the bridge and onto the lift.

Satisfied with her actions, Sandra continued on her way down to main engineering. It didn't take long for her to arrive and soon transfer was completed.

Multiple turbo lifts were manually shut down and locked up along the way. Doors were sealed, and force fields were put in place. Soon Engineering had successfully converted into a secondary makeshift bridge fortress.

All around Engineering members of the ships elite force stood silent vigil behind hastily created fortifications, alert and ready for action, guarding the bridge and engineering crew as they went about their duties.

Thanks to the turbo lifts fast ability to reach all areas of the ship within a few short minutes, all in all the whole process took no more than five minutes. No record... but it would have to do. Meanwhile, at the same time, the ship was being evacuated of all non-essential staff.

The moment everybody from the bridge was standing - or in a few rare cases sitting - at their consoles Sandra gave her next order.

"Z" she said, using Zarva's nickname... "Connect a class 10 emergency battery to the main teleporter matrix power influx capacitor. I might need the ability to teleport later without it draining our main power," she told Zarva who had taken her usual seat near by.

Hearing her command Zarva nodded and waved over a few engineers to delegate her new orders to them.

"Oh and Z...do the same to the tractor beam control matrix... I will definitely be needing it in a few minutes," she added before the engineers could leave to perform their tasks. The last thing she wanted was to lose the control over half of her ship just because the ship lost it's main power.

'Hmm..come to think of it...along with seat belts for the command staff I really should make make that compulsory in the future for all main systems,' she thought quickly making a mental note to herself for the future. It would be expensive and create a lot of extra work...but it would be well worth it.

Satisfied that her orders were taken care of Sandra turned to face T'vrell once more.

"T...Have all nonessential staff members left the ship yet?"

"Checking... just about captain. Only a few more left to go," came back the response.

'Damn it,' she thought as she impatiently checked the ships time on her console. If this took much longer then the Kobay might be destroyed before they even arrived. She really did not want to become the first captain in starfleet history to arrive too late to even see the doomed freighter. That would really ruin her day. Not to mention how humiliating it would be to be known as The-captain-who-came-too-late.

"The millisecond they are all gone, go to warp and head towards the Kobayyashi Maru. Maximum Warp!" she ordered, impatiently tapping a finger on the covering of her console. This, she decided, would also be something to improve on in the future if she ever found herself in this sort of situation again.

A minute later she finally got her wish, much to her utmost relief.

"All non-essential staff have departed, the last have just beamed down. Going to warp!"

"Z...report!" she asked annoyed by the wasted time.

"Batteries have been installed, and the ship is ready for battle. We are all ready to go, Sir!" came her reply.

"Good! Well done!. Have your engineers returned?"

"Yes captain!"

"Excellent...just what I wanted to hear."

"T'vrell! From the moment we received the distress call until now... how long did that take?" she asked, worriedly.

"Calculating...that would be... 9.456 minutes."

Hearing this Sandra silently cursed and slowly released her breath. Sometimes the difference between a victory and a defeat was little more than four or five minutes. If her calculations were correct, it would still be enough, but only barely. Hopefully the Klingons were slow today.

This was going to cut it very close. Oh well, what is done is done. Just one thing left to do:

"Computer," she called out.

*Beep*

"Mark!"

(((Acknowledged. All operative and executive ship orders have been transferred to Engineering! It is now no longer possible to issue and accept orders from any other area expect Engineering!))) came the expected female response.

There...that was that! The bridge was now 100% useless, as was the rest of the ship for that matter, except Main Engineering and only she, an admiral, or a unified agreement of at least three separate senior bridge officers of the simulated USS Anaconda could now cancel that order.

With just a few words she had effectively locked down her ship tighter than a misers purse.

* * *

 _ **Back in the Academy's Test Center.**_

"Hmm...looks like she may have spent a little bit too much time there, what do you think John? Bad planning, this time?" one of the captains asked her colleague, a small smile on her face. Watching how cadets responded to certain situations never got old and this one was proving very interesting to watch.

"Hard to say May. All things considered, in my opinion she did everything as well as she could have. Remarkably so even... for a cadet. It does after all take quite some time to evacuate a ship. Something which most captains seem to forget. Even if all you do it run for the nearest escape pods," John responded copying her smile.

"Agreed! While we may have to deduct a few minor points for this because it needlessly risked the lives of the crew of the Kobay... all in all I am fairly pleased with her progress. At least considering the strategy she chose. Baring in mind that the risk of encountering the enemy is guaranteed...by doing this she will have saved the lives of over 150 members of her own crew in the event of the ships destruction. That by itself is far more than those on the Kobay," the third captain said.

"True... still...imagine if there were a VIP on board the Kobay. She would have risked the VIP's life."

"There isn't though and considering that this is only a simulation and therefore the Klingons won't actually start to attack until they arrive..."

"In this case I'd say she made a good call," John responded once again.

"It won't always be a simulation though, will it John?" came the response.

"Anyway... they are about to enter the battle field. Let's watch, shall we?" one of the Admirals said, a small glint in his eyes. He was really enjoying this. 'Finally a cadet who was not afraid of doing things differently,' he thought to himself. For once he was looking forward to what was about to happen next. He had seen so many cadets doing these tests in his career that he had grown quite bored of them. Not so now.

For the first time in a long time he was looking forward to it.

'Finally something new!'

* * *

 _ **Back on the simulated make-shift command centre of the USS Anaconda**_

The ship arrived as it usually did, appearing suddenly out of what seemed like nothingness, with a flash of bright white light.

Quickly, turning to face T'vrell, Sandra wasted no time and moved on to the next phase of her plan and rapidly began to issue a few orders.

"T...Scan for the Kobay and any Klingon ships in the area. Set scanners to scan for tetryon particles and then shift through all known forms of cloaking scan frequencies. If there is a cloaked ship out there I want to know where it is."

"E...load a few torpedoes into the tube. Set them up for a rapid High Yield launch... and disengage the safeties for immediate launch while your at it. Fire them on my mark."

Hearing this her first officer decided to speak.

"Captain, I'd advise against this. Prematurely disengaging the safeties might cause an immature explosion if we are hit by incoming fire."

"Noted! Carry on!..."

"A...keep her nice and steady, do not to rock the ship until the torps are away."

"Everybody...battle stations!"

Being so easily dismissed the Vulcan first officer first looked at her for a brief second but then just shrugged and sat back in his seat. The rest was out of his control. She was after all the captain. As such the right, the privilege...and the responsibility, was hers.

"Captain, there are three Klingon B'rel class ships decloaking. They are turning to attack the Kobay," Anne Potter called out.

"Not on my watch... hail them!" she said, hurriedly. There was now no time to waste.

"No response..."

"Try again!"

"Again...no response."

Sandra was now getting frustrated. She knew she would fail her test attempt if the Kobay was destroyed. That could not be allowed to happen.

'OK...Time to bring out the heavy guns and put my language skills to good use!' she thought.

"Helm! Force open a connection on all channels!"

"Connection open!"

 _"_ _QI'yaH! petaqs! nuq 'oH QIH?. je Haj botlhDaq vay' DaH tay'jaj Qu'vam nuH luHutlhbogh wejmaH cha' Duj Dotlh vIqelnISmo' chenmoH 'op Soq HIvmeH DaHutlh'a'? chay' ghot tu'lu'. mej jIHvaD ghob SoH qaStaHvIS Daq tlhIH quvHa' toy'wI''a'!_ (Hey! PetaQs! Whats wrong?... Are you too afraid to fight someone worthy that you have to attack an unarmed ship to gain some form of honour? How about you fight me in their place you dishonorable slaves!), she said in Klingon, causing those very few who understood the language enough to gasp, and even the Vulcans - who did not - to raise an eyebrow or two. The rest just stared, not knowing what to make of the situation.

"Sir! they are breaking away from the Kobay and changing course. They are heading towards us," Elisa Florres, the chief tactical officer chose that moment to announce. "No idea what you said, Sir! Whatever it was though sure got their attention."

"That E was Klingon and basically I just called them cowardly dishonorable slaves!"Sandra responded, allowing herself a small brief smile and enjoyed another few gasps from the rest of the crew.

No one called Klingons honourless cowardly slaves. It just was not done if you wanted to live. If you did then, at best you could usually hope for was to die an honorable death with a bath'leth in your head. At worst, it would mean a life time of painful torture in the ice mines of Rura Penthe. Klingons took honour very seriously.

"Remember this everybody... when dealing with Klingons, you can usually trust in two things. One is a Klingons lack of humour," she paused and waited a second for a few laughs. However none came. Frowning, she continued: "The other is their overly inflated sense of honour".

"Crude and vulgar...but effective," T'vrell's chose that moment to say.

"Indeed!" came the response from the Vulcan first officer. That caused a slight giggle as a response from the crew. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he was impressed. The cadet knew Klingon. Not many Cadets...or Captains for that matter - unless they were language specialists - knew Klingon and especially not to that level of fluency. They usually relied on their universal translators to get the job done and the translators were not always accurate. Not in a long shot.

That however sounded...native!. 'Just who is this girl?' he wondered.

Sandra allowed herself a small sigh of relief. Success! The Kobay was safe. At least for now. The rest was now up to her and her crew.

'That was the easy part. Now comes the... problematic part.'

Taking a large breath, she gave the next orders.

"Let's get to it! T... reverse polarity to shields. Z...Full power to weapons. A... Attack Pattern Beta. Combine it with attack pattern Alpha. E...Target the lead two Klingon ships and on my mark blast them with all we have got!"

All too soon the first Klingon scout ships entered range.

Yet, Sandra did not give the order to fire.

The crew looked at her with worried looks on their faces. What was she waiting for?

'Wait...Wait for it...Wait!... NOW!...' Sandra thought.

"FIRE!" she ordered loudly.

The next second the Andromeda dipped briefly as it fired a full spread of phaser fire, phaser fire which was followed almost instantly by a full volley of high yield torpedoes. All heading towards first one, then the other target right behind the first. Just in time as a brief second later the Anaconda was, in turn, also struck by a full barrage of incoming Klingon ships phasers as well as cannon and turret disruptor slugs.

Seeing the arrival of his almost certain doom, the captain of the first simulated ship quickly tried to give orders to evade the incoming fire. However due to the fact that the enemy ship was so close, it was already far too late to react. His ship was hit almost instantly by the phaser fire...and then a few split seconds later by the full force of a heavily charged, high yield photon torpedo.

The Klingon ship's shields, already severely depleted by the phasers - phasers which were even stronger due to the close range - swiftly buckled. By the time the first torpedo hit they had already broken, allowing the torpedo to quickly plow right through the now unprotected ship, swiftly putting it out of its misery in a blaze of fiery glory. The second torpedo, now unhindered, proceeded right through the remains of the first, where it then continued on its merry way right into the second ship. The next second the ships captain only had an even sorter second to scream in anger before his ship also began to tear itself apart from the inside out and explode in a blast of fire, briefly illuminating the darkness of space around it.

First blood had been scored. Two ships down. Many more to go!

* * *

Angered at seeing their fallen ally die an honorable death, the last of the three Klingon ships immediately decided to foolishly attack the Anaconda in force.

The Anaconda, still protected by the currently reversed polarity of its shields, quickly retaliated in kind and at first all seemed well. Victory against the severely outclassed klingon ship seemed assured. Then, the effects of the polarity ended and suddenly, four more ships, two of them Negh'Vars, suddenly decloaked around them, adding to the Anacondas problems.

Seeing the four decloaking ships Sandra allowed herself the luxury of releasing a small curse.

The smaller ships she had expected. Not so, the Negh'Vars. This was going to be truly troublesome.

It did not take long before the Anaconda's shields were groaning under the onslaught of incoming Klingon fire power and all to soon, far sooner than she had originally planned, the expected reply was heard.

"Captain, front and right side shields are at 50% and falling rapidly. And I do mean rapidly!"

"T'vrell?" she asked hurriedly. For the first time she felt a flicker of uncertainty, but hid it well.

"I'm trying to compensate but we can't last like this for much longer," came the expected calm reply from the science bridge officer.

Hearing this Sandra, nodded and after a brief second of contemplation, she decided to act.

"T...Divert more power from auxiliary to the shields."

"E on my mark, fire all we have got at..." she briefly stopped and looked at her console as if looking for something particular.

"...At the co-ordinates I'm sending you now," she finished quickly typing something into her console.

Suddenly Elisa's own console beeped.

"Aye, Captain...co-ordinates received. Adjusting target parameters," Elisa answered swiftly.

Sandra paused, then, two seconds later...

"FIRE!"

The moment Sandra said 'Fire' Elisa punched down on a button on her console. The next moment a torrent of phaser firepower combined together to strike united at one key point on a near by Negh'Vars shields.

Unknown to the crew, even to the other vixens, Sandra had been looking frantically for weak points, any weak points she could use, in the Klingon ships shields.

Normally, this would not have been an easy thing to do, Sandra however had used the past few months to prepare and read up on ways to win the test. One of these ways which she had read up on just happened to be Klingon ship types, placing an emphasis on known old Klingon shield designs.

Now, normally, even this would not have been enough to win a battle. However, rightfully thinking that the programmers of the Kobayyashi Maru only had well documented outdated semantics of the old Klingons ships, she had rightfully gambled that they too would therefore, in turn, also only be facing one of these ships during the test.

As such, when she suddenly noticed a sudden weakness in the form of a brief fluctuation of the Negh'vars shields...she made full use of it.

The second the combined phaser fire struck the Klingon ships shields, they went right through the shields as if it had never been there in the first place. The result: a spectacular explosion as a large hole was drilled right into the ships heavy armour, right into the main core of the enemy ship...

...And a ship full of amazed gaping cadets and an equally stunned proctor, who desperately struggled to understand what he had just witnessed.

Sandra however was not happy just yet. She knew there were many more Klingons ships out there. While destroying a Negh'var battle cruiser with one hit was always an incredible feat, especially since it was a hit from a Miranda, she had no time to waste.

It was now or never.

"A! Time to get... creative! Engage Sol Protocol Gamma 2, on my mark," she said talking to both Tvrell and Anne.

"Just like we practiced."

A brief few seconds later...

"Mark!"

Almost instantly the view screen dipped sharply, very sharply as G-force could be felt throughout the whole ship, even through the ships inertial dampeners. A few cadets stumbled, pushed to the ground by the sheer force of gravity as the ship fought to compensate. Anne's hands flew over the control console in a well practiced pattern and the ship began to roll and dodge at an incredible speed - for a cruiser.

Keeping as close as she could, Anne flew the ship as close to the enemy ships as she dared, briefly causing quite a few of the cadets to scream and even the Vulcan proctor to gasp softly in surprise. The ship was traveling so close to the klingon ships, that you could even see inside the ships windows if you happened to look at them in the right moment.

Torpedo's and numerous turret fire missed the Anaconda by mere meters as Anne narrowly dodged each one, rolling and swerved past them. Said incoming firepower, in turn, continued on unhindered into the vastness of space or hit allied Klingon ships, causing small to medium damage to their shields until finally one of the ships had enough.

A second later it too explode in a blast of fire, once again briefly illuminating the darkness of space around it.

It took a few seconds and the loss of two more ships before the Klingons realised what was happening. Realising that their attacks were doing more damage to their allies than to the enemy ship, the Klingons quickly adapted and stopped firing torpedo's and stopped using their turrets and cannons. Choosing instead to switch to and concentrate solely on phasers, and only to fire the thier weapons when there was no allied ship near their prey, they continued to fire once more. Those who did not have phasers had no choice but to wait impatiently until the federation cruiser was far enough away from their allies so that they too could fire.

Soon, while greatly reduced in intensity, the Anaconda was once again shaking from the incoming phaser fire and the odd cannon and turret slug. Already a few consoles were beginning to spark.

Quickly realising that the odds had turned against her once again Sandra silently swore to herself for a second time. Frustrated by the sudden situation and turn of events, she frantically tried to think of a way out of her sudden predicament. But for once she couldn't find one.

This was not going the way she had planned. Not at all. She was so sure that using Protocol Gamma 2 would solve most of her problems, that for a moment she didn't know how to react.

She was still trying to think up a different plan only to come short and nearly fall out of her seat when the ship suddenly shook wildly, causing a few people to stumble slightly and others to fall to the ground.

Without thinking, fed up and unaccustomed with her inability to react appropriately to the Klingon threat, she briefly lost her cool.

"Damn it! A! You're better than this. Stop them from scratching up my ship!" she called out before she could stop herself, highly annoyed by the incoming - and in her opinion unnecessary - hits as she straightening herself up in her seat again.

"Sorry San. I'm trying. I'm doing all I can. It's not exactly easy dodging this much firepower... and there is a crap load of fire power out there!" Anne called back, her tongue in between her teeth in fierce concentration as her hands danced swiftly over the keys of her console, so swiftly that they were nearly a blur. Both ignored the looks the first officer was giving them, torn between a look of annoyance due to their sudden behavior and a look of admiration - for a Vulcan - for the skill it took to dodge that much firepower.

"Yes... well... Try harder! I like this ship. It's my ship. I'd prefer it in one piece if you don't mind!" Sandra called out in return, not knowing what else to say at that moment. She couldn't believe the amount of trouble Anne was currently having. It had all seemed so easy until before. Why was she having so many problems now? Why was everything suddenly going to hell?

"Well...if you think you can do it better, then how about you get out and push...Sir!" Anne called back angrily, belatedly adding the 'Sir' at the end. This time is was her turn to be frustrated and severely ticked off as a lucky torpedo narrowly hit the ship. Thanks heavens the shields were still up. As if the enemy wasn't already enough, she did not need the captain breathing down her neck as well.

Just then a near by console suddenly blew, badly injuring a simulated crewman.

"Shit! Man down! Man down!" came a surprised cry of another crewman who immediately turned to help the downed crew mate but was stopped by Sandra before he could do so.

"Ignore him... concentrate on your task," Sandra ordered sharply, angrily. As much as she hated giving the order, she could not afford crew members abandoning their posts at that moment. Even worse... that last hit had been her fault. It was all on her. If she hadn't distracted her conn officer it wouldn't have happened.

Doing her best to ignore the moaning injured crewman she turned her attention back to the battle.

"Captain, forward and starboard shields are at 30% and falling. We can't afford to take another hit like that," a junior science officer cried out in alarm.

"Damn it...Sir!... There is a Klingon off the starboard bow!" another of the simulated crew members said, nearly panicking."

"Scrape him off, Potter!" another crew member tried to order. A snarl from Anne was the response. "Damn it, I can not change the laws of physics. Shut up already, I'm giving her all I've got," she nearly roared.

Sandra winced. Things were getting even worse by the second. Now her crew were already beginning to give their own orders. The situation was now officially out of control and it was not a situation she liked, at all! She needed to find a way out of this mess and she needed to find it... fast!

But what! she wondered quietly, absolutely desperate to find a way to get out the current situation.

Across from her at the tactical table Elisa Flores looked at her with a sad smile on her face. This was directly how her own attempt had ended. With her dying in a ball of fire as she was shot up from all sides by multiple Klingons war ships. It seemed, not even Miss Extra Credit would be able to handle the Kobayyashi Maru.

Once again the ship shook as it is once again hit by enemy fire.

"Shields are at 20%...," the same photonic science officer announced. He seemed to be nearly in tears.

"Sir...the ship is turning to fire again!"

This is it, Anne thought already resigning herself to dying once more. With three Kobayyashi Maru attempts under her belt so far, one her own, all of which had ended in the same way, she was really getting accustomed to the experience as of late.

The other Vixens mirrored her thoughts, as did the proctor.

It seemed the dream of beating the Kobayyashi Maru would fail once again.

Just like it always did.

There was only one small problem.

A certain cadet named Sandra Jadzia Ezri Sol, did not agree and was not ready to give up just yet.

"Looks like they are going to win once again," she heard another officer say. It was at that moment that Sandra finally had enough.

"No they won't!" she growled out loudly. This time there was a very strong tone of anger in her voice. A tone so strong that it even alarmed the rest of the vixens who immediately tensed. They had never heard their leader 'this' angry before! They all knew, when Sandra was angry... things became interesting.

And this Sandra was utterly furious!

* * *

Indeed, at that moment Sandra was furious. Utterly furious!

At the Klingons! At the damage they were causing her ship! At her inability to stop them! At the fact that she was losing control of her crew. At herself for thinking it would be easy!

Take your pick. At that moment she really didn't care.

All she knew was that she was failing... and THAT was unacceptable.

This was not the situation she had expected herself to be in when she first entered the holodeck earlier that day.

With a grim look on her face she realised one important fact. As much as she hated to admit it, she might have been a bit too arrogant... and now she was paying the price for it.

Oh, she knew it would be difficult. It wouldn't have been the feared Kobayyashi Maru otherwise. But she had not thought that it would be 'this' difficult. They were just cadets after all. No one expected cadets to win difficult battles. Add to the equation the matter of who she actually was and the previous training that she had received, and well...yes... It seemed she had indeed expected it to be, just that... easy. Or at least manageable for someone like herself.

Sadly this was proven to not be the case.

Yes!... She may have been trained before the academy. Yes! She might indeed be a super human with the DNA of multiple races.

However...all of her powers and skills did not necessarily guarantee success. This incidentally was also directly the reason why the Kobayyashi Maru had been invented in the first place.

To humble over eager cadets... like herself. Cadets who thought they could succeed in everything. To show them that not all battles could be won and that sometimes retreat was indeed a viable option.

There was only one problem.

She did not like to fail.

She did not want to fail!

Indeed, she HATED to fail.

And she would be damned if she failed now!

* * *

Completely fed up with the situation and unwilling to accept failure, a strange glint appeared in her eye.

'Fine! If I can't do this the easy way, then I will simply have to do it the hard way instead!' she thought. Challenge accepted! Time to put away the kiddy gloves and get serious.

Steeling herself for what she had to do, she looked towards her conn officer and then, with an angry tone as cold as ice, she called out;

"A... It's time to end this! One way or another... It's time to bloody well... Give! Them! Hell!"

"Engage Sol Protocol Gamma 6!"

Then, pointing towards the now cracked, yet somehow still functioning view screen, she said one last word:

"NOW!"

* * *

 _ **Back in the Academy's Test Center.**_

"Did you see that? I can hardly believe what I just saw!" came the amazed voice of a greatly impressed captain.

"That's some really impressive flying! Some of the best damn flying I'm ever seen!" another of the captains said, equally impressed by what he had seen.

"Impressive indeed. I've heard about that girl... Senior Cadet Anne Potter. Best helms-women the academy has ever seen in a long time," came the response of another captain.

"I can see what you mean. Any ideas how she got that good? Or is it just natural talent? an Admiral asked.

"Practice... just hours upon hours of back breaking, finger aching practice," one of the academies flight instructors choose that moment to answer. "They don't know that I know, Sir, but... Potter and Sol, those two have really been hiding things from us. As have the rest of the vixens for that matter," he continued with a proud smile.

"Really! Do tell," the admiral asked.

"Senior Cadet Sol has been spending a lot...and I do mean a lot, as in most of her free time helping the rest of the Vixens train in their specific areas of expertise. In cadet Potters case she helped her practice her piloting skills. You won't believe some of the stunts they have accomplished together. Cadet Sol is already impressive in her own right...but Potter...well you just saw what she just did. Just last week I spied on one of their training sessions and watched Potter fly through an asteroid field at maximum impulse while Sol just sat there, calling out orders while calmly eating an apple. Potter never crashed once," the instructor announced, ignoring the incredulous looks he was getting from the other captains around him.

"Really! Well well well! Those ladies are beginning to really impress me. All five of them," the Admiral answered. "I'll be expecting a full report of their... extra activities on my desk tomorrow," he added a second later.

"Yes Sir! came the response. The other captains looked a little surprised.

"Sir...are you sure? They...cadet Sol and cadet Potter... seem quite...unsettled to me during the test. Hell, Cadet Sol even lost control of her crew," one of the more 'hard-to-please' captains asked.

"Oh, Don't misunderstand me Marcus. They could do without a lot of the banter and curses... rest assured I will be having a sharp word with them about it later. However... all things considered, it is forgivable and even understandable to a certain degree considering the high stress situation they are currently in. Can you honestly say you could have done any better than them as a cadet? These tests are designed to bring out the worst in us and sometimes to even break us. To test how far you would go, what you would do and how you would react in very stressful life and death situation. Besides, I have seen even veteran captains loose their cool in such a hopeless situation. It can be very difficult to react correctly in such a situation, especially when your under heavy fire. Fact is, Cadet Sol has already shown a great ability to think on the spur of the moment and she has an exceptional ability, especially for a cadet, to plan ahead. Those protocols of hers alone are really impressive in their own rights. Whether we like it or not, Star Fleet needs officers like the Vixens. Star Fleet needs promising cadets who are not afraid to fight and think differently, just like the vixens. Currently more than ever. I need officers who do not believe in defeat and who are not afraid to fight back when the situation turns for the worst. As such and I think it's fair to say that cadet Sol for one has easily passed the test. Don't you agree?" he asked, receiving a few murmured agreements from the other examiners around him.

As for Potter. Well...I think you'll all agree when I say that Potter's piloting skills speak for themselves," the admiral explained.

Hearing his explanation a lot of the captains nodded in agreement. Quite a few clicks of buttons could be heard as they awarded favorable scores on their datapads.

It seemed the vixens would soon be graduating with high honours...maybe even with record breaking results.

The admiral smiled grimly. No matter what happened next. Win or fail, Cadet Sol had already proven herself to him...as had Potter...or the rest of the Vixens of that matter. They were directly what Star Fleet needed. So, whatever happened next at this point... would just be a bonus.


	4. Hegh batlhlIj-The Kobayashi Maru-Part 3

**A/N:**

Ok...I'll be truthful here. I'm not happy with the way this chapter went. I think it just doesn't feel/flow right. However, I've kept you readers waiting enough.

Please tell me what you think. I may or may not change the chapter later on...maybe.

Still...I hope that any readers which I do have will still enjoy it.

Here we go...the longest chapter (for this story) to date.

* * *

 **Previously on Hegh bathlIj**

* * *

Completely fed up with the situation and unwilling to accept failure, a strange glint appeared in her eye.

'Fine! If I can't do this the easy way, then I will simply have to do it the hard way instead!' she thought. Challenge accepted! Time to put away the kiddy gloves and get serious.

Steeling herself for what she had to do, she looked towards her conn officer and then, with an angry tone as cold as ice, she called out;

"A... It's time to end this! One way or another... It's time to bloody well... Give! Them! Hell!"

"Engage Sol Protocol Gamma 6!"

Then, pointing towards the now cracked, yet somehow still functioning view screen, she said one last word:

"NOW!"

* * *

 **And now the continuation:**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

The Kobayashi Maru - Part 3

* * *

 **Stardate:** 86457.17

 **Location:** Holodeck 5, Star Fleet Academy, San Francisco, Earth

* * *

Frustrated, Sandra knew. She needed to buy some more time. And the best way to do that was to...

"Anne... Engage Sol Protocol Gamma 6..."

"NOW!" she ordered, loudly.

It took a few seconds for Anne to react, but then, realizing that she had just been given an order and that, this time, it was one she could actually follow, Anne sighed in relief.

Allowing herself a brief smile she gave an affirmative; "Yes Sir!", then, quickly punching a button on her console, she forced the ship once more into a dive.

Sol Protocol Gamma 6 meant once thing: A dive!

Not just any old dive but...

A steep steep dive!

One which only a crazy pilot like herself would dare to accomplish.

And so dive she would.

The poor Miranda class cruiser dipped harshly. So harshly that the ship groaned and creaked in protest at the sudden extreme maneuver and an alarm sounded as the inertial dampeners threatened to burn out.

The Klingon ship's pilot, unwilling to lose its prey that easily, also attempted to emulate the maneuver and dipped his own ship harshly, following the light federation cruiser into the dive. Not having as much luck and skill as Anne however, the ships designated pilot soon was soon forced to admit defeat and abort before he inadvertently lost control, allowing the Anaconda a brief moment of freedom, just enough for it to get away.

For a few quick seconds Anne allowed herself a smile. Whether against Federation, Klingon or Photonic beings... she had proven herself the best once again. Her smile however was instantly wiped from her face seconds later however, when the previous Klingon ship returned, hungry for more, this time also followed closely by a friend. Seeing this Anne cursed and soon the Miranda class starship rocked once more from the incoming firepower of what was now two ships instead of one.

The situation, had just become worse!

Annoyed that her maneuver, while seemingly successful at first, had not had the desired effect she had hoped for after all, Anne quickly adjusting her flight path once more in an increasingly desperate attempt to limit the damage to the ships quickly depleting shields. The ships shields had barely had enough time to recharge with all the incoming firepower and at this rate, she mused with irritation, they never would. At this rate it was only a matter of not if, but rather when they would finally fail. Time, as it was, was just not on their side.

Realizing irately that she would have to do something drastic if she wanted any chance at all to achieve any favourable results in the near future, Anne decided to gamble.

"OK then,...seeing as that won't work... and seeing as I don't have much of a choice, let's see how you handle this!" she mumbled to herself, then, grabbing wildly at the ships flight control stick she raised her voice and spoke out loud to the crew.

"Captain...I'm going to try 'The Loop'... commencing Reverse Potter Protocol Delta 8," she announced loudly, then, not waiting for her captain to reply and ignoring the sudden curses coming from the other vixens, she pulled the stick up, harshly, nearly puling it out of her console.

Whereas last time she had put the ship into a steep dive, this time she brought the ship up into an even steeper climb. So steep was the sudden climb, that, unlike the previous dive, this time it suddenly flipped the ship right over.

Suddenly flying up side down, had the star-ship been a plane, this reckless maneuver would no doubt have caused the plane to stall, then promptly go out of control and crash. Luckily for the crew of the Anaconda, that was not the case. Space had no air and as such no resistance to hinder the clime...it had a lot more space to maneuver than in the air space of a planet... and the only gravity it had, was that which was artificially created by the ship itself. Even so, at that moment, quite a few crew members had to forcefully hold in their lunch.

Surprised by the abrupt unfamiliar feeling of suddenly finding themselves up-side down, the unsuspecting crew of the USS Anaconda could do nothing but watch worriedly, frozen in a mixture of shock, fear and awe, as alarms began to ring out all over the ship and several of the ships inertial dampeners groaned in protest, then momentarily stopped functioning altogether. Suddenly, realizing that the ships artificial gravity had momentarily ceased to exist, many crew members screamed and scrambled wildly in chaotic attempts to grab at themselves or any other objects which were still securely bolted down and not suddenly floating around the room. In some extreme cases, some even had to dodge fee-falling objects as they suddenly fell to the ceiling or the ships walls as the ship completed it's loop.

Anne, unperturbed by the sudden chaos she had caused around her, was very happy that she had had the foresight to secure herself into her seat before commencing the test that day. Had she not, then she would have had a difficult time staying in her seat. Of all the crew, only the vixens had known what to expect having had experienced it once before during a test run in the holo-suit. As such, only they had been prepared enough to hold on and hug their seats and consoles tightly when it happened.

Continuing to perform the near impossible maneuver, she forced the groaning and clearly unhappy Miranda class starship to suddenly appear right behind the Klingons ships. The two Klingon captains and their crews for their part could only watch in stunned silent amazement at the seemingly impossible -yet somehow not- maneuver, before their ships were suddenly blasted by deadly volleys of phaser and torpedo fire, thanks to the always waiting, eager and happy trigger fingers of one Elisa Flores who had managed to remain at her console during the loop. Just like the rest of the vixens the current chief tactical officer of the USS Anaconda, had come prepared for the maneuver, and had activated a pair of magnetic boots prior to the loop. A pair of boots which she had decided to wear for the duration of the test.

As for the Klingons. Realizing that 'they' were now the ones in dire straits, the pilots of the two Klingon ships valiantly tried to frantically dodge and escape from Anne's and Elisa's evil - to them - clutches, but to no effect.

Finding it an extremely easy task to follow, thwart and even influence the two fleeing ships desperate attempts of escape, Anne allowed herself the luxury of a small predatory grin and watched Elisa, seize the moment for what it was and mercilessly pound away at the two frantically scrambling ships.

All too soon, realsing that they just had no chance, the Klingon ships pilot simply gave up. A reaction which was then mirrored by the rest of the ships crew when they too realised they had simply had been defeated by a superior opponent. Accepting their fates and their honourable souls to the halls of Sto-vo-kor - the Klingons equivalent to heaven for the honorable, the crews of both ships started to sing the slow Klingon funeral song of the recently or soon to be honorably defeated. Another volley of phaser fire and a torpedo later, they too joined each others as casualties of war, as two brief explosive balls of fire in the cold vacuum of space.

Seeing the Klingon ships explode the crew of the Anaconda - now safely back on the floor of the ship, as the artificial gravity had reactivated itself - started to cheer. However, once again it did not last for long. In what was quickly become a common sight, their brief smiles and cries of victory vanished once again almost instantly when another two ships, another raptor and to their utmost horror another Negh'var battle cruiser warped into the system.

Sandra who had until that moment been silently watching and mentally applauding Anne's valiant attempt to outfox the Klingons had spent the past few moment thinking up different ways to win the battle, each one seemingly more drastic than the other.

Watching grimly as the sudden euphoria of her crew dropped lower and lower until it vanished almost completely at the sight of newest arrivals she sighed.

Damn it all to hell!

Just how many Klingons...and Negh'vars were out there, she wondered. Usually one Negh'Var was difficult enough to handle for the average star fleet captain...especially for a Miranda captain. But this...

This was getting ridiculous.

It seemed no matter how many ships they destroyed, for every enemy they took down, two or more were always ready, willing, eager and waiting to take it's place. It just wasn't fair. How many ships did she have to destroy to win this? she wondered.

The KobayYashi Maru mission sure was living up to it's name. That much was for sure.

It truly was an impossible mission. Even now the ship, her ship, was surrounded and just barely surviving, dodging the near overwhelming firepower of an armada of Klingon ships.

Sandra knew very well that it was only because of Anne and her insane piloting skills that they were even still in one piece. Though even that was stretching it a bit if one considered all the holes and scars her ship had already received from the battle so far.

Already it was beginning to look more like a swizz cheese than a space worthy Miranda and Sandra was sure, if it wasn't for the ships automated repair systems and the many force fields which were still holding it together, there wouldn't even be a ship left at all.

Unlike ships of the past, ships of her time had gained the ability to quickly repair themselves in a fraction of the time it would normally have taken, with or without the crews help. In fact, automatic repairs system had become so good that a ship could even repair itself back to 100% during a battle.

Still...this was pushing it.

Briefly closing her eyes she once again allowed herself a brief moment of despair.

What was it going to take to win this, she wondered, once again for the umpteenth time that day.

Tired and weary from the stresses of battle, she wavered for a second and for a second she even contemplated just throwing in the towel. After all at this point everybody was usually already long dead and blown to space dust!

Already she had done far batter than anybody else had in history. Besides Kirk that is... but again cheaters didn't really count.

Together, with the rest of the crew, they had proven themselves skilled enough to give the Klingon's a real challenge and to last far longer than anybody else had in the history of Star Fleet.

Alone destroying the few ships which they had destroyed was already a great feat all by itself, especially considering the circumstances. But it was just not going to be enough to win the proverbial war. And definitely not the Kobayyashi Maru either.

Baring in mind that nobody was actually expected to win in the first place there would not be any dishonor in actually doing so. Especially not after what she had already achieved so far...as such it would be so easy to...

NO!

No no no...just...NO!' she screamed at herself in her mind. Disgusted at her treacherous thoughts. Just as soon as the thought to give up came, just as soon did she had crushed it again within her mind and kicked it out of her mental airlock with extreme prejudice.

She would could not allow herself to simply give up and flee like the common everyday captain. Normal people did that, weaklings did that, but not she. She was not normal. Her Klingon side alone felt sick at the mere thought of giving up. She had been created to do the impossible. It was her duty to do the impossible. Giving up was simply not part of her vocabulary. It was not allowed to be! It was not allowed to end this way and as such she would be damned if she just gave up.

So what if she failed. If she failed... then she'd fail. Simple as that! But at least then she would at least be able to say. I gave it my all!

She would not be a 'bIHnuch'...a coward! She would not quit! Quitters never made it anywhere.

There had to be a way to win this. There just had to.

Just like Kirk before her, she simply refused to accept that there was simply no way to win.

There had to be a way to do this. Nothing was impossible...right? There was always a way! There just had to be a way!

'Think Sandra think! You can do this. You have to do this!' she thought to herself.

'Damn it Sandra...this is your purpose. This is what you were made for. You are supposed to be able to solve the most difficult of problems, to go where no man has gone before and to kick the other aliens asses...or equivalent...indeed, to do the things others would call reckless... stupid...crazy...'

...

...

'Wait a second!' Her eyes suddenly opened and widened as an idea came to her mind.

'Crazy?'...

'Reckless?...'

'Crazy!'

'Hmmm!'

It was at that moment that she suddenly knew what she had to do and she allowed herself to smile.

Could it really be that easy? she wondered.

Maybe. Maybe it really was... that easy!

Why not!

After all, what did she have to lose? Nothing...that's what!

Maybe the only way to actually win an impossible mission like the Kobayyashi Maru was to be just that...

A crazy lunatic with delusions of grandeur.

Maybe... if she wanted to succeed, then...then maybe she would just have to do something so foolish, so dangerous, so unpredictable...so unbelievably 'bat fruity insane', that the academies Vulcan programmers of the Kobayyashi Maru would never expect it.

Maybe 'THAT' was the key to winning the Kobay!

Not to try to win...nor indeed to cheat...but instead, to do something the Vulcan programmers would never expect and thus would never have programmed a counter plan against

The only way to outfox a vulcan is to be illogical to the extreme. To beat their logic and do something they would never see coming.

It was with those thoughts that Sandra finally made up her mind.

'No time like the present to try and find out, I guess,' she pondered to herself.

What did she have to lose?

'Time to become a legend!...'

'Or to die trying...'

Preferably without the dying.

Though, come to think of it, I'll probably get kicked out of Starfleet for being too reckless instead!

Oh well, no time for second thoughts now. Come what may, either way, one way or another. After today she was sure, her life would never be the same again.

* * *

 _ **Once again, back in the Academy's Test Center.**_

"It seems the test is nearly over,' one of the Vulcan examiners said. "In the end even Cadet Sol, the so called star of the academy was not able to beat the Kobayyashi Maru," he added, a slight but still well hidden smug smile appearing on his Vulcan face. It seemed even a Vulcan, the epitome of emotionlessness, could not hide his emotions enough, to not gloat. Not after having been told for weeks that the cadet might actually be able to beat the test.

It was an affront to every Vulcan who had ever helped in creating the Kobayyashi Maru simulation. His Vulcan pride demanded that the cadet would lose. Nothing else was acceptable to the proud Vulcan which he was.

For the past few minutes Cadet Sol had only sat in her seat, seemingly watching the valiant actions of her crew and that of her conn officer, instead of issuing more orders. And while Anne Potter, Sol's Conn officer, was indeed doing an incredibly admirable job of keeping the ship intact, if only barely, it was becoming clearer by the second that it would soon not be enough.

All around him a few of the captains, grumbled and groaned in disappointment as they began to share his thoughts. Already some where thinking about the next upcoming test attempts.

The two admirals however however had different thoughts.

"I wouldn't count her out just yet," one of the admirals said as he gave the other a brief nod, a nod which the other returned. Unlike the Vulcan, he had seen the look on Sandra's face.

It was not the look of a cadet who had given up. On the contrary. It was quite the opposite. This cadet had a fire in her, not seen since the captains of the 'old era'.

While yes, there had been a moment where she had briefly lost that look and where it had momentarily turned into that all so common look of loss and resignation...it had only been there for a few short seconds.

"Sir?.."the Vulcan said, believing he had misheard.

"I said, I wouldn't count her out just yet," the admiral repeated himself.

"Sir...with all due respect... there is no way she could possibly..."

"What...win?" the admiral interrupted. "Whoever said anything about winning. Not everything is about winning. Though I dare say...cadet Sol might just be the first to prove you wrong in that regard as well," he continued.

"Sir, there is no way she could possibly... " the Vulcan started to say only to be interrupted again, though not by the Admiral, but rather by a sudden cry of disbelief from one of the other examiners.

It was more than enough to turn their attention back to the screen.

"Is she crazy!...That's against the directives!" one yelled out loudly.

An exclamation which quickly got the attention of everybody else in the room.

What crazy plan was she up to this time?

* * *

 ** _Back to Sol and the crew of the USS Anaconda._**

"FINE!..." Sandra suddenly called out loudly, getting the attention of the whole crew and making a few jump.

"It seems I have no choice... T'vrell," she called out, instantly getting her Vulcan friends attention and making the Vulcan straighten up in readiness.

"Photonic Shock Wave... clear a path for us, now," she said, pointing her fingers towards the view screen once again."

Nodding briefly to acknowledged the commend, T'vrell pushed a few buttons on her computer console and charged up one of her special abilities.

"Aye sir!... Releasing shockwave now!"

Suddenly the ship shook as a large shock-wave was expelled from the ship, briefly pushing all nearby Klingon ships away from the Anaconda, giving it more room to maneuver and causing some light damage to the small Klingon armada around her. Due to the immense traffic around them two even went as far as to crash into each others and then explode. Sandra however didn't care. Not about two mere measly little ships who would soon be replaced anyway by the endless supply the Klingons seemed to have. She had other, far more destructive plans. Plans which would soon make the sudden crash look like a small spark when compared to what would happen next.

Ignoring the two Klingon ships as they exploded from the wave of released energy, seeing that the way was clear... for now, Sandra quickly proceeded with the foolish and unpredictable plan she had suddenly cooked up.

"Ok everybody...listen up," she started to say with the utmost seriousness in her voice. They would have to be fast, very fast...and precise to pull this off as they would not have much time. Even the smallest error would result in almost certain doom.

"A...no matter what happens next...do not lose your focus and continue to dodge that incoming fire as if your life really did depend upon it."

"Yes Sir!" Anne said stress clearly audible in her voice. All this time she had not stopped dodging the incoming fire from the Klingon ships and she was mentally swearing to herself, drops of sweat rolling down her face, as close hits continuously threatened to hit the ship. The smallest mistake could well be their last.

"T... Power up the warp core... hold the energy in the core no matter what, until I say so." A raise of her Vulcan friends eyebrow was her only reply.

"A...Be ready to get us the hell out of here instantly...and I do mean instantly. When I say so, go to warp and never look back!" she ordered.

A small pause a smile appeared on her face, then she allowed herself the luxury of a small nearly inaudible giggle. A giggle which nearly freaked out the rest of her crew.

"Z...you have the most important task. Set up a dedicated reactor and get ready to create...

Omega!"

...

...

A small pause then...

"WHAT!" came the reply of multiple crew members. Anne nearly lost control of the ship but managed to steady the ship again just in time to avoid crashing into a near by ship and a very deadly burst of incoming cannon fire. T'vrell was barely able to hold her composure and even the proctors eyes had widened comically in alarm.

It was an order which got wide eyes from everybody in the crew. No exceptions.

'Was she really going to...' the proctor wondered in alarm. There was simply no way he could stay calm about this.

"Sir, are you serious? We can't possibly do that... ," came an alarmed cry from a near by officer.

"Captain!" the proctor said, deciding that it was time to react. "I must protest! This will destabilize the ability to go to warp for the whole sector, not to mention break the Omega directive. Star Fleet regulations clearly forbid...," he tried to say but was cut off.

"Noted... We are doing it anyway!

"But Captain!" the proctor tried to say again but was cut off once more.

That's an order!" was Sandra's stubborn reply, ignoring the many incredulous stares of horror she was getting from all sides of the room. She was sure they thought she had finally lost her mind, however she would not change her plan now. Not anymore. She was committed. It was either all or nothing, to the bitter end. Either it would succeed...or in a few short seconds they would all be space dust, dead, and back in the deactivated holodeck. At that moment she was very thankful that she was not in a real mission but only a simulation. If it were real...well... she didn't want to think about it.

As it was...this was a huge risk and she had no idea how the other examiners would take her next actions.

Not good if the proctor beside her was any indication.

Either she would succeed and pass... or she would fail and get kicked out of the academy after which she would then fully accept the results of her actions...and then head back to Section 31 where they would then commence the fail safe plan.

Either way, one way or another she would soon be on board a ship. It was just a matter of when and as what.

Until that happy...or unhappy moment however...

"Cadet...do that and I will terminate the simulation," the Proctor said loudly standing up from his chair. It was time to put down his foot. Hard!

Sandra looked at him in surprise. This she had not expected. Stupid directives. Once again held back by imbeciles who couldn't make the difficult choices. Even in a simulation!

True...If this were real she could have understood it...but it was not real, damn it!

"Fine!" she said angrily giving the proctor a sudden angry glare...

"Cancel that!"

"In that case...plan B..."

Hearing this a huge cry of relief could be heard all around the bridge.

"T... Power up the warp core... but don't go to warp. Hold the energy no matter what happens, until I say so. "

"A...no matter what happens next...do not lose your focus and continue to dodge that incoming fire as if your life really did depend upon it." she ordered again, repeating the same orders from before, word by word.

The whole bridge crew looked up at her incredulously and the proctor began to frown.

"Captain didn't I just...," the Vulcan began to say but was stopped by Sandra who raised her hand, before he could continue.

"I'm not finished yet!" Sandra said back loudly. She was sick of dealing with her troublesome first officer. Her glare was still at full force. She couldn't stand that Vulcan and at that moment she didn't care if he was a proctor or not. This had gone beyond a test. This was now personal.

The proctor was suddenly silent. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Never before had he been spoken to like that before by a cadet. The nerve of that woman. Temporary captain she may be, but that gave her no right to talk to him in that way. If this had not been a simulated test he would have declared her unfit for duty, taken command of the ship and thrown her directly into the brig. However, at that moment he decided to simply let her have her way. After all, it was just a simulation and she wasn't the only one who was being graded during the test, so he couldn't just shut it down. For now he'd let her have her way, if only to prove her wrong. Besides, what was the worst that could happen. At worst they would just 'die' and the simulation would end.

No, he'd wait for the test to end, 'then' he'd deal with her. To even dare to speak to him this way...or to even consider breaking the Omega and Prime directives...

The nerve of that women. They were there for a reason! Once this was over she'd be on her way home. Once this was over, genius and star of the academy or not, he'd find a way to get her kicked out. This he swore.

Unperturbed by the proctors thoughts, wasting no more time, Sandra was once again back in her element, rapidly issuing orders as fast as her mouth could issue them.

She knew she was taking a huge risk here...but at this point she didn't care anymore. If she succeeded, they would never be able to touch her. She was sure of it. If she succeeded, she would be the undisputed star if the academy for years to come. The victor of the Kobay. If she succeeded they would never be able to kick her out. If not...well...It was not like they could demote her. Either she succeeded, in which case they would never kick her out of star fleet...or, if the worst happened she'd be on her way to S31 to her own command and to those who weren't afraid to do what needed to be done.

She'd listen to the well deserved music of her actions later. Besides...even if the worst were to happen, Sandra was sure, there was also a high chance that a few strings could be pushed and pulled to keep her in the academy if necessary. Section 31 did, after all, have friends in high places.

Should it come to it, then maybe she'd even be able to get the annoying Vulcan reassigned...to the front lines. Or at the very least, silenced.

Something to think about in the future.

For now however...

"E...Use our remaining torps and fire them at will at any targets as they come available. Do not, I repeat, do not use the phasers to target the ships. Concentrate the phasers fully on incoming torps, only."

"Z...I don't care how you do it...but...just keep the warp core from exploding. NO! unfortunately we are not creating Omega," she added seeing the forming question on her chiefs mouth.

"T... ready the tractor beam for use on the Kobay and keep your finger on the button. If a torp comes to close...use the tractor to alter their course back at the Klingons."

"A... Lay a direct course towards the Kobay...full speed."

"Sir!, that will make it easy for the Klingons to target us! I will not be able to avoid the incoming fire," Anne called back worriedly.

"Noted...however we don't have much time so we'll just have to risk it," came the reply.

"Yes Sir!" Potter said with a shrug. Choosing to simply trust her, she complied. One thing however was for sure. It was going to be interesting. Most likely short ...very short. But also very interesting.

Almost instantly the ship started to shake as it began to be hit more and more by incoming fire.

Sandra suddenly realised that she had to do something or else the ship wouldn't make it in time... at least not if they wanted it to be in any shape to go to warp.

Thinking briefly, she got another crazy idea. One of many crazy ideas that day.

"T'vrell..." Sandra screamed over the noise of the ship as it shook even more.

"Yes captain?" T'vrell asked, never taking her eyes of the console as she re-calibrated the tractor beam.

"Tell me... how large does your wonderful logical Vulcan mind think that raptor is compared to us? she said pointing towards a steadily approaching raptor on the view screen.

"With or without the holes, sir?" she asked her face as emotionless as usual.

Hearing this, a good few crew members turned to look at her. Did the Vulcan just make a joke? The vixens just smiled. It seemed T'vrell was making good on her promise to try to be more human and to enjoy a good joke from time to time.

Looking at her Vulcan friend Sandra's eyebrows rose and she swore she saw a small flicker of a smile but soon decided that it was a coincidence.

"Exactly as she is now," Sandra's responded only to be interrupted as a computer suddenly exploded near by, making a few crew members curse as they were brutally reminded that they were still in a battle for their lives, but luckily no one was hurt ...this time.

Ignoring the newly exploded terminal T'vrell answered the question.

"I estimate about 30 to 36% smaller."

"Good...that should be well within acceptable limits."

"Sir?" T'vrell asked again.

Another explosion rattled the makeshift bridge as another console exploded and a part of the ceiling suddenly collapsed nearby. Once again, it was ignored.

"T'vrell... When I say so I want you to use all of the ships tractor beams to pull that ship towards us. Can you do this?"

T'vrell's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline in surprise as she wondered what her crazy captain had planned this time, but she still answered. "Yes Sir!, I believe I can"

"Good enough for me, make it so!" Sandra ordered. Just before the ship shook once more and several crew members screamed as they were thrown to the ground and one got 'electrocuted' set on fire and and burnt to a crisp by a destroyed computer near by.

'Thank heavens this is just a simulation' was the combined thought of a few non photonic crew members as they desperately tried to control their gag reflexes from the sight and smell of burnt flesh. A few of the simulated crew members were not so lucky.

Suddenly the ships lights flickered and the force fields protecting Main engineering went out.

Seeing this, and doing her best to ignore the chaos around her, Sandra allowed a brief moment of worry to cross her face, but hid it quickly. 'Damn, there goes our protection against the Klingons...and more importantly the elements,' were Sandra's sudden thoughts before she refocused on her task. She hoped that luck was on her side. At least for just a bit longer.

"Shields are now fully down Sir!" came the resigned warning voice from one of the engineering officers, but she ignored her.

"Elisa... what's the status of the Kobay...are her shields down?" she asked her tactical officer.

"Yes Sir...they are still down" came the reply after a quick check, just as another explosion could be heard and another part of the ship's ceiling came falling down.

"Damn it, she's falling apart" came the warning cry of another crew member.

Sandra, like before ignored him.

"Good!...Potter! On my mark, turn out heading by...23 degrees and make a micro jump"

"Aye Sir!" came the response.

"T'vrell, at the same time...on the same mark..target and activate the tractor beam at these co-ordinates," she said speaking loudly and quickly pressed a few buttons into her still active console.

"Sir?"

Hearing this the proctor started to open his mouth but then stopped and just shrugged. This was all so illogical to him, he had now officially given up trying to reason with or indeed understand the reckless cadets around him and had decided to just sit back and watch.

"On my mark!"

Anne tensed.

"Get set!.."

"Now...GO! Anne!...T'vrell!" Sandra said loudly. "Give it all you've got!"

Hearing the command Anne Potter punched down onto her console and engaged maximum impulse trust.

Time seemed to suddenly slow down as several things happened.

An alarm sounded shrilly alerting that another torpedo had scored a direct hit on the ship and had managed to punch a hole right through the saucer.

That... was ignored and deemed as unimportant. There was nobody up there anyway.

The tractor beam grabbed the raptor and the whole ship shook violently as the ships integrity sharply decreased by the sudden increase of force. It seemed the stress for the ship was simply too much as suddenly a small section of the saucer was torn right off. That...was also ignored. But only because at this point nobody cared anymore. The few photonic crew members who did, were all silent, resigned to their grizzly fate.

Sandra suddenly roared at a few engineers to keep up the few remaining emergency containment force-fields around the warp core and to keep it protected from incoming debris.

The ship was hit once more by another torpedo, then another. Two large holes were blown right though he ships hull, tearing through the ships saucer leaving huge holes in their wake and a few people who only just got back up again were thrown once again off their feet. Another console exploded and smoke filled the room as a new fire started. It, like all the others before it, was quickly put out.

A sudden lucky hit blew a whole through a near by room, causing a few crew members to be sucked out into space before another emergency force-field could be activated to plug the breech. That severely shook the remaining crew members left on the ship.

Seeing this Sandra quickly ordered the room evacuated and sealed.

"Elisa looked around herself, briefly avoided an incoming falling beam from the ceiling, then shrugged. "Ah, whatever! Looks like today really is a good day to die!" she mumbled to herself as she targeted another incoming torpedo with her last remaining operational phaser - the others had all been lost in the explosions.

Then Anne Potter punched down hard on a lever on her own console.

Suddenly all of the available remaining ships power was diverted to the warp core. The rest of the crew only had a split second to hold on tight and brace for impact.

T'vrell activated the secondary tractor beam just in the last nick of time for it latch on to the Klingon raptor.

"No..E...today is a good day for the other idiots to die..." Came Sandra's response, having heard her tactical officer.

And just like that, at that last second, the ship disappeared briefly into warp.

Then all hell broke loose.

* * *

Against all the odds, Sandra, and the rest of the vixens had timed it perfectly. At the exact same moment the Anaconda went briefly into warp, the tractor beam, aided by the immense destructive power of the speed of light, pulled the raptor right into the nearest and largest object it could find. An object, which incidentally, just happened to be a near by Klingon Negh'Var battle cruiser.

The unwilling raptor, suddenly finding itself momentarily requisitioned as a ship sized torpedo of weighted 'mass' destruction, hammered into the ill-fated battle ship, twice to three times it's own size, at the speed of warp, causing the raptor to fly through the larger warship and both ships to fall apart instantly under the sudden explosive pressure of the rather vicious impact.

The impact was so destructive that, at in a matter of a few short seconds, both ships exploded. They in turn then also showered the other Klingon ships with their own parts... severely damaging even more klingon ships in the area.

Unable to withstand the barrage of heavy ship sized shrapnel, some parts even larger than a large ships deck, two more ship soon exploded, which then in turn then also caused two more to explode and engulf another near by raptor...which then also decided to blow up seconds later releasing even more debris, and so on, causing a cascading effect. On and on it went until, in the end absolute chaos reigned supreme as in a matter of a few short seconds 16 ships simply ceased to exist.

Had it been a real battle, it would have been the greatest defeat the Klingons had ever had. One which could very well have turned the tide of the war which had taken place back in the era of the original Kobayyashi Maru.

Alas...it was just a simulation.

Still..that made it no less impressive.

* * *

 _ **In the** **Academy's Test Center**_

...

...

The whole room was silent. Only the sudden drop of a padd could be heard as it left the limp fingers of one of the captains and struck the ground.

The numerous gaping open mouths were testament to the shock the captains were currently feeling.

"Holy...crap. Did that really just happen?," one of the captains mumbled, his mouth wide open in astonishment.

"You're not seeing things...it really did happen," came a reply, just as amazed as the first.

"Who is this cadet again?" she asked, incredulously. "Are you sure that's not a veteran captain in disguise?"

"If I had not just seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it. As if wanting to make an Omega particle to stop the Klingon was not already enough...now this," said another captain, shaking her head.

That's not...supposed to be possible,' came the reply from a Vulcan. One of the programmers of the Kobay simulation.

"That's it...I don't care what it takes. I want her on my crew," said the next captain.

"Get in line. I don't think you'll be the only one," said another captain beside her, an announcement which got quite a few nods from the other captains around them.

The admiral just shook his head. "The more I see the more impressed I'm getting. Almost makes me want to know what would have happened if she actually had gone ahead with her Omega plan," he said in bemusement.

"Hell...Almost makes me want to demote myself and join her crew once she makes captain," said another, which got him a few strange looks from other near by captains.

"What...you can't tell me you could have done what she just did," he said defending himself. "We could learn something from her."

"Wait a minute... are we really going to turn a blind eye to what she just tried to do?" one of the captains asked suddenly, which caused a few of the others to look at him.

"I mean she did just attempt to break the Omega directive," the Vulcan added.

Hearing this a few captains groaned. Leave it to a Vulcan to point out the bad and to ignore the unbelievable.

"How can we not? After what she just accomplished today, we'd be crazy not to. Once word of this spreads there will no so many captains wanting to get her on to their ships and and politicians wanting to use her and the vixens to get some popularity, we'd probably have a picket line of on-strike Captains outside our doors, if that were possible, should we expel her from the academy. I can already see the headlines; 'Klingons rejoice at Federations stupidity. The second Kirk, expelled!"

"Besides I wouldn't be surprised if HQ and intelligence will place her into the advanced training program after this whether we expel her or not. The vixens would be directly what that lot are looking for. In short they are directly what the Federation needs to finally turn the tide against the Klingons"

"What about Cadet Sol's behavior towards her first officer?"

"To be fair...if I had a plan...the only plan which I thought would work to save the lives of my crew and I was not allowed to use it because my first officer wanted to start a mutiny if I did, I'd be pissed too," came the answer. An answer which got a few nods.

"But cadet Sol was going to break the Omega Directive...that's an even worse offense than breaking the prime directive," the Vulcan tried again.

"Pardon me...but isn't the whole idea of the Kobayyashi Maru test to see just how far cadets would go to achieve victory?" another captain asked.

"That's right, it is." came the answer.

"Then why are we penalizing her for doing directly what is expected of her to do. This is just a simulation after all," the captain continued.

"Because, even if it is just a simulation, the federations directives and rules still apply," came the response.

"Erm...excuse me... but, she did not actually create an Omega particle, if my memory hasn't failed me and I'm pretty sure it has not, she was stopped by her first officer before she could," came another response.

"That may be true...but she wanted to. That strongly suggests to me that if she had not been stopped then she would have done so."

The other captain shrugged. "Could have, would have... fact is she did not. As such she had not actually done anything wrong."

"But..."

"Enough, all of you!" one of the admirals chose that moment to say.

"While I agree that she should not have considered using an Omega particle of all things, it is also true that she did not actually make one. She was stopped by her first officer before she could. Which is directly why we have first officers in the first place, to advise the captain, to help them in the daily running of the ship, to protect the captain from harm... and if necessary even to stop their captains from doing things which could harm the crew and ship.

"Had Cadet Sol not stopped after Proctor Sopek's warning then it would have been grounds for disciplinary action and maybe her subsequent removal from the academy...however she did stop. As such, while it would have been better to have never considered using Omega, she had not actually done anything wrong."

"Rest assured I will be giving her a severe dressing-down about this, and I'll also be having a word with her about her conduct during the test and a few other issues...but other than that I can't fault her in her actions during the test today and will therefore also be grading her actions accordingly." He paused for a few seconds then continued.

"Also keep in mind that she is just a cadet. As such now would be the time to make the mistake. If anything I applaud her for her...daring and exceptional planning."

"If anything, Diana is right. By the end of this day, especially if she were to actually pass the test with a victory. Something which I might add has never been done before," he raised his hand to stop one of the captains from speaking before continuing. "...Kirk cheated so he doesn't count. Then there is no way we can drop her from the academy and justify the act. There would be an outcry if we did."

"Now enough of this for now...let's continue watching the rest of the test. I for one am very interested in the ending. We'll continue this discussion afterwards," he ordered, then not waiting for any more responses he turned his attention back to the screen.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the Anaconda the ship was not without it's own fair share of problems. Though far enough away from the exploding ships to not be caught up in the fiery chaos it had left behind, the instance it went into warp, it quickly fell out of it again, a mere second later after having first entered it.

Now, twirling, out of control across the general emptiness of space, the ship finally decided it had enough.

It started small at first, then escalated at an alarming rate as the ships internal integrity quickly lost in stability. First the last remaining necelle snapped and broke off the ship, taking with it the last remaining phaser array of the ship. Then, the top right half of the top of the saucer started to rip right off the ship, causing a large ship sized crack to spread right across the ships front saucer.

First one deck, then the next. Deck after deck was torn off the ship and exposed to the unforgiving vacuum of space. This was, in turn, quickly followed by another larger rupture, which then proceeded to tear away even more of the last remains of the once whole ships saucer. A part of the ship, which incidentally also once held the former now defunct bridge. Soon the ship was indistinguishable to its former self. Now only half a ship, only the back part of the front saucer section of the Miranda remained, the rest having been completely separated from the once proud cruiser.

Main engineering, was the last remaining half way intact area of the ship, due to it's location at the back of the ship, - the front having been completely destroyed and was being held intact only by the many battery operated force-fields.

Screams could be heard as people were thrown all over the place. Computers exploded and numerous people were hit with shrapnel.

The lights had gone out multiple times and there was now complete darkness while the ships emergency systems frantically tried to compensate for the excessive damage the ship had just experienced...and was still experiencing. The only light that remained was that of multiple fires which were slowly spreading across the damaged remains of the ship.

Bodies littered the room, though most were thankfully just unconsciousness, having hit the walls and many objects during the ships brief foray through warp speed.

The Anaconda, a once proud Miranda in it's prime, was now barely more than a wreck.

It took a while but soon the crew - at least those still conscious enough to do so, got back on their feet. Those who were not, were simply put to the side and left in the gentle care of the few still active medical staff left on the ship.

Multiple fires all over the place were quickly put out once again, throwing the ship back into even more complete darkness, as the crew frantically tried to restore the ship to a minimum of operative capability.

Sandra, for her part, groaned painfully from where she lay, covered in debris. She couldn't see it yet, but a beam had missed spearing her by a mere inch. It had speared instead right thought the remains of the captains chair instead. Some time during the past few seconds Sandra had fallen - more like been flung out of her seat. Had she not, it would have been 'game over' for her.

Slowly she pushed some debris off of herself. If her current migraine was any indication, she had hit her head off the ground, hard. She'd have to get that looked at later on.

'I'm definitely installing seat belts into my future ship...' she vowed to herself again as she tried to get her bearings. If only the dizziness would stop soon. Little did she know that that would very well have cost her her life.

Pushing the loose debris of her she slowly got to her feet. Stumbling drunkenly as she tried to regain her balance she then helped put out the rest of the fires.

Soon, a few minutes later, the emergency lights came back on.

"Report!" she called out tiredly, through slightly blurred eyes as she took her first 'good' look around what remained of Main Engineering and swore to herself, her face paling as she looked at the remains of her chair and the beam sticking through it.

'I'm still getting the seat belts,' she thought stubbornly to herself, though how very shaken by her near death experience. Even if the safety system would have 'saved' her life. It still looked very real.

Slowly she settled into the remains of a near by chair and thankfully allowed a medic to look her over.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to concentrate and focus.

Soon the reports started to check in.

"Main power is off line, shields are down, warp core is down...and I dare say she will never go to warp again." Came the first response from an engineering crew member.

"Structural integrity is at a mere 23%.. and climbing slowly. The automatic repairs are fully engaged and repairing what it can, though I'm sorry to say it won't do much good as we lost over half of the ship, from deck 2 all the way up to deck 11." Came the next reply.

A short pause then.

"The main bridge is... gone, Sir." This time it was Zarva herself who answered.

"Gone? Sandra asked." What do you mean gone?"

"Just that. It's gone. Just gone, Sir...as in...it's not there anymore," she answered.

Silence swept over the whole room as the remaining active members of the crew stopped to listen.

Had they still been in there...and not moved to Engineering. Well, they didn't want to think about it.

"Ah...well...I never liked it anyway...too easily hit, Sandra mumbled to herself quietly at the revelation. It was one of the reasons why she had moved to Engineering in the first place. If she ever graduated and became a captain she'd recommend that all ships should have a battle bridge... and seat belts. Never forget the seat belts, she mused as she felt another spike of pain from her head. In fact...she might as well move into the battle bridge altogether and turn the main bridge into an observation lounge, or science room instead.

"Do you have any good news for me?" she asked a few silent seconds later.

"Well...we are still alive...that's good news...right?" Zarva answered.

True, there was that. They were still here. Sandra couldn't help but agree and nod, only to swear silently as the sudden movement hurt her head. Another brief look at the remains of her chair and the beam put a shiver down her back.

The medic, noticing the pain started to concentrate more on Sandra's head injuries.

Soon Sandra relaxed and allowed herself the luxury of a smile as the pain started to ebb away and before long the blurring in her vision decreased until she was able to see well again

"Any other good news?" she asked.

"Auxiliary thrusters are still working, if only barely. And we have minimal power...but that's about it."

Sandra sighed in relief. They still had a chance.

"Good!"

"Good?" The remaining crew look at her as if she were crazy.

"Yes, good...it means we can still move...and if we can move then we still have a chance," came Sandra's reply.

The room was struck silent once more and a few were wondering if their captain was insane.

"Sir!" an officer said incredulously. "I'm not sure if you haven't already noticed, but...we have no weapons...we have no shields...we can not warp...the ships repair systems will need hours to repair the damage, and even then we will still have no weapons. In short, sir, I'm pretty sure, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if the ship name shouldn't be changed to the USS Swiss Cheese," the officer used that moment to announce.

"So?" Sandra asked, her smile never leaving her mouth. She really loved messing around with the photonic officers, plus it was great that even now, her crew had a sense of humour. Though it probably was not intended as such.

"In short we have failed," came the answer.

"No we haven't!" she replied

"Sir?" the officer said, surprised and worried.

"We are still alive and the last time I checked we still have an operational ship. Add to that that we are not currently under attack and I think we are doing exceptionally well."

"Well...I guess...but..." the officer started to say but then stopped. He didn't know what to think. Deciding instead that it would be best to just shut up and that it just wasn't worth complaining, he shook his head and instead settled on a simple slightly sarcastic "Aye Sir! Of course Sir! To hell and back if necessary Sir" and with that he went back to work.

Sandra just smiled and chose to ignore the sarcastic remark. Instead she asked her next question.

"How fast can we still go?" she asked.

Anne looked at the readings of her severely cracked yet somehow still functioning console before answering. "According to the remains of my cracked console, only barely enough for quarter impulse sir, maybe half if we pushed her, though I'd advise against it," she answered. "Though I can't be sure if these reading are still 100% accurate," she added a second later.

"I see...and what's the...'cracked' status of the Klingons?" Sandra asked, expectantly. This was the moment she had been looking forward to. If her gamble and craziness had paid off then...

Anne looks down at her console again then gasped. "This can't be right," she answered clear shock evident in her voice.

"Potter?" Sandra asked, now very interested in her officer and friends answer. This sounded promising. The next information would either decide victory or defeat.

A few seconds passed before Anne felt ready enough to respond once more.

"According to this...and I really hope this is correct, the whole Klingon fleet is ..good grief...destroyed or badly damaged...she answered with clear unbelieving amazement in her voice.

Gasps are heard all around the remains of the make-shift command center. And even one bloody hell was heard before Sandra thought herself fit enough to continue. She too was shocked. This had gone far better than even she had expected.

Had she really done all that...with just one move at that?

"No wait...one ship seems to be left in one piece," Anne suddenly said, causing the those who were near enough to listen to still and become nervous.

It seemed it was still...too early to celebrate just yet.

"The Kobayashi?" Sandra asked calmly, although she too was feeling nervous.

"No..another Negh'Var".

A few 'Oh shits and 'Damn its' could be heard around the room after that announcement

For a second even Sandra closed her eyes. 'Well, Looks like that's that then. No way am I going against a fully operational Negh'var with this sinking tub of scrap metal.' she thought to herself.

Resigned she decided it was time to give the order to retreat and to at least save what was left of her crew. Or rather she would have had she not heard the next part: "It looks damaged though and if my scans are correct it currently has no power."

Hearing this the crew seemed to sigh in relief and some exclaimed loudly in celebration once more...but Sandra raised her hand to stop them.

"What about the Kobay?" Sandra asks again.

Silence prevailed once more as the whole crew, even the ship itself seemed to wait for the answer.

"Still there...it seems it was completely ignored by the Klingons and just out of the blast radius of our...attack?" came the answer, though it was more like an unsure question than a fact.

Hearing this, the whole crew was silent at first but then everybody once again broke out into loud cheers.

"We did it!... We actually did it!" a few crew members started to say jubilously as they began to realise that not only had they had survived but also what they had achieved that day.

Sandra herself just sighed in relief and allowed herself a few seconds to ponder her next move. She knew that even now, they were not out of the woods yet. This time however she allowed the others to celebrate unhindered. They had earned it. No matter the outcome, as of that moment, win or lose, they would already go down in history simply for taking out a whole Klingon Armada with one ship. Even if it was just a simulation. Hell, even if the Kobay had been lost, or they themselves were destroyed, the record of Klingon ships destroyed would have remained.

Also, more importantly for her, this also meant that he position at starfleet was now safe. No matter what happened next. While she would no doubt be reprimanded for her actions that day, there was no way that they - meaning the academy officials- would kick her out of the academy now. At least she didn't think so. Not after having just smashed and annihilated the previous record. If after the test she kept her head down from now until the end of term she should be just fine. And she had every intention of doing just that.

No one had ever done what she had done today. Even better, a good portion of her crew were still alive. Another thing no one, or at least no one who had chosen to help the Kobayyashi, had ever been able to say. Up to this point...casualties had always been...well...absolute.

To date, everybody who had chosen to help the Kobay had failed...and had died almost instantly during the first few moment of their attempts.

Until now!

Yes...until now.

And she was no where near finished yet if she had her way either.

Slowly she began to grin as she made up her mind.

If your in for a strip, then you might as well be in for the full bar...of gold pressed latinum that is.

Nodding to herself she turned to what remained of her crew.

Yes she had still lost a few good men during the battle and a lot of damage had been inflicted to her ship. The falling ceilings, and explosions had seen to that. Unfortunate but expected.

However, the vixens...were still there. That alone made it a complete victory in her eyes. Even if some of them were badly cut up from the shrapnel and T'vrell was limping from an injury to her leg. Not to mention the fact that she herself had nearly been speared by a beam. Still...nothing that couldn't be fixed though with a quick visit to the doc.

She even still had a few members of the elite force left.

All in all, her crew got away lightly, all things considered.

Nodding again as she decided on what to do next, she turned to face the remains of her command crew.

"Set course towards the last Klingon ship...best speed," she ordered.

Once again the celebrations stopped as the stunned crew turned to face their crazy leader. Everybody stared at her as if they just couldn't believe what she had just said. In a way they probably didn't.

Even the Proctor, the only one to have survived the crash in one piece and without injuries of any kind - but that was only because, as proctor he was not allowed to fall unconscious or be injured and therefore was therefore exempt from being injured during the simulation, was completely silent.

In fact, the 'Vulcan' had been struck speechless and was staring into space.

"Oh and Elisa..."

"Yes Sir!" she asks wearily. The Tactical officers hands were white from gripping the remains of her broken console. Not that she would be needing it any longer seeing as the ship had no more weapons left to fire.

"Prepare the troops."

Elisa closed her eyes in defeat and for a second she didn't answer. Her thoughts were all too clear. 'That crazy bitch is at it again.' In the end though she simply smiled and nodded.

Unperturbed Sandra continued: "I think it's time to play a little game of... let's be Klingons."

Blinks and blank stares from the crew were her only response.

"No objections?" she asked. "Good!... I'm glad you all agree!" she said happily her smile on her face, before she turned deadly serious.

"Prepare for boarding!"

Silence and the sound of a datapad falling to the ground was her only answer.

"Helm...set course for the Negh'Var. Fastest possible speed."

"I want that ship!"...

" And I want it now!"

"ENGAGE!"

The last thing that could be heard was a small sob coming from the Vulcan proctor as he finally lost his calm.


End file.
